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THE EDWIN C. DINWIDDIE 

COLLECTION OF BOOKS ON 

TEMPERANCE AND ALLIED SUBJECTS 

(PRESENTED BY MRS. DINWIDDIE) 






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OUR COUNTRY: 



ITS POSSIBLE FUTURE AND ITS 
- PRESENT CRISIS. 



By 

Key. JOSIAH STEONG, D. D., 

General Secbetaey of ^We Evangelical Alliance 
FOB THE United States, New York. 



With an Introduction, by 
Peof. AUSTIN PHELPS, D. D. 



" We live in a new and exceptional age. America is another name for 
Opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort oftheDivinb 
Providence in behalf of the human race.'' — Emerson. 



FORTY-FIFTH THOUSAND. 



PUBJJSHED BT 

THE BAKEK & TAYLOK CO., 9 BOND ST., NEW YOEK. 

FOR 

THE AMERICAN HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 



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^^ 



Prefatory Kote* 



This Volume was prepared for the American Home 
Missionary Society by Eev. Josiah Strong, D.D., then its 
representative for the work of Home Missions in Ohio. 
As will be seen at a glance, its main purpose is to lay 
before the intelligent Christian people of our country 
facts and arguments showing the imperative need of 
Home Missionary work for the evangelization of the 
land, the encouragements to such effort, and the danger 
of neglecting it. 

Copies for perusal and distribution can be obtained 
from the publishers, The Baker & Taylor Co., No. 9 
Bond Street, New York. Fifty cents in cloth binding 
or Twenty-five cents in paper. 



Copyrighted by the 

American Home Missionary Socibty, 

1885. 



< 



INTRODUCTION 



This is a powerful book. It needs no introduction from 
other sources than its own. Its great strength lies in its facts. 
These are collated with rare skill, and verified by the testi- 
mony of men and of documents whose witness is authority. 
The book will speak for itself to every man who cares enough 
for the welfare of our country to read it, and who has intelli- 
gence enough to take in its portentous story. 

It is worthy of note that almost all the thinking which think- 
ing men have given to the subject for the last fifty years has 
been in the line of the leading idea which this volume enforces — 
the idea of crisis in the destiny of this country, and through 
it in the destiny of the world. The common sense of men 
puts into homely phrase the great principles which underlie 
great enterprises. One such phrase lies under the Christian 
civilization of our land. It is " the nick of lime.'" The pres- 
ent hour is, and alw^ays has been, " the nick of time" in our 
history. The principle which underlies all probationary ex- 
perience comes to view in organized society with more stu- 
pendous import than in individual destiny. This book puts 
the evidence of that in a form of cumulative force which is 
overwhelming. 

Fifty years ago our watchful fathers discerned it in their 
forecast of the future of the Republic. The wisest among 
them even then began to doubt how long the original stock of 
American society could bear the interfusion of elements alien 
to our history and to the faith of our ancestry. The conviction 
was then often expressed that the case was hopeless on any 



IV OUR COUNTRY. 

theory of our national growth which did not take into account 
the eternal decrees of God. Good men were hopeful, only be- 
cause they had faith in the reserves of misjht, which God held 
secret from human view. 

Those now living who were in their boyhood then, remem- 
ber well how such men as Dr. Lyman Beecher, of Ohio, and 
Dr. Wm. Blackburn, of Missouri, used to return from their 
conflicts with the multiform varieties of Western infidelity, to 
thrill the hearts of Christian assemblies at the East with their 
pictures of Western greatness, and Western perils. Those 
were the palmy days of "May Anniversaries." The ideas 
which the veterans of the platform set on fire and left to burn 
in our souls were three. The magnitude of the West in geo- 
graphical area; the rapidity with which it was filling up with 
social elements, many of them hostile to each other, but nearly 
all conspiring against Christian institutions,- and the certainty 
that Christianity must go down in the struggle, if Eastern enter- 
prise was not prompt in seizing upon tlie then present oppor- 
tunity, and resolute in preoccupying the land for Christ. 
Again and again Dr. Beecher said in substance on Eastern 
platforms : ' ' No w is the nick of time. In matters which reach 
into eternity, now is always the nick of time. One man now 
is worth a huadred fifty years hence. One dollar now is worth 
a thousand then. Let us be up and doing before it is too 
late." 

From that time to this the strain of appeal has been the 
same, but with accumulating volume and solemnity of warn- 
ing. The fate of our country has been in what Edmund 
Burke describes as '' a perilous and dancing balance." Human 
wisdom could at no time foresee which way the scales would 
turn. Every day has been a day of crisis. Every hour has 
been an hour of splendid destiny. Every minute has been 
" the nick of time." And this is the lesson which this volume 
emphasizes by an accumulated array of facts and testimonies 
and corollaries from them, the force of which can scarcely 



OUR COUNTRY. *-. V 

be overstated. Fifty years of most eventful history have 
been piling up the proofs of our national peril, till now 
they come down upon us with the weight of an avalanche. 
Such is the impression which the argument here elaborated 
will make upon one who comes to it as a novelty, or in whose 
mind the facts have become dim. 

One is reminded by it of the judgment which has been ex- 
pressed by almost all the great generals of the world, from 
Julius Csesar to General Grant, that in every decisive battle 
there is a moment of crisis on which the fortunes of the day 
turn. The commander who seizes and holds that ridge of 
destiny wins the victory. The conflict for the world's salva- 
tion partakes of the same character. And the facts and their 
corollaries massed together in this book show that nowhere 
is it more portentously true than in this country. Our whole 
history is a succession of crises. Our national salvation de- 
mands in supreme exercise certain military virtues. Vigilance 
in watching opportunity ; tact and daring in seizing upon op- 
portunity ; force and persistence in crowding opportunity to 
its utmost of possible achievement — these are the martial vir- 
tues which must command success. 

This volume presents, also, with a power which can scarcely 
be exceeded — for it is the power of the simple facts — the truth 
that Christian enterprise for the moral conquest of this land 
needs to be conducted with the self-abandonment which deter- 
mined men would throw into the critical moment in the criti- 
cal battle of the critical campaign for a nation's endangered 
life. What the campaign in Pennsylvania was to the Civil 
War, what the battle of Gettysburg was to that campaign, 
what the fight for Cemetery Hill was to that battle, such is 
the present opportunity to the Christian civilization of this 
country. 

Turn whichever way we will — South, West, North, East — 
we are confronted by the same element of crisis in the outlook 
upon the future. Everychiug seems, to human view, to de- 



VI OUK COUNTRY. 

pend on present and dissolving- chances. Whatever can be 
done at aU must be done with speed. The building of great 
States depends on one decade. The nationalizing of alien 
races must be the woik of a period w^hich, in a nation's life, is 
but an hour. The elements we work upon and the elements 
we must work with are fa&t precipitating themselves in fixed 
institutions and consolidated character. Nothing will await 
our convenience. Nothing is indulgent to a dilatory policy. 
Nothing is tolerant of a somnolent enterprise. 

The climax of the argument appears in the view taken of 
the auxiliary relation of this country's evangelizing to the 
evangelizing of the world. One who studies even cursorily 
the beginnings of Christianity will not fail to detect a masterly 
strategy in apostolic policy. Christian enterprise at the outset 
took possession first of strategic localities, to be used as the 
centers of church-extension. The first successes of Christian 
preachers were in the great cities of the East. The attractive 
spots, to the divine eye, were those which were crowded with 
the densest masses of human being. Not a trace do we find 
of labor thrown off at random in the apostolic tactics. As 
little do we discover of the spirit of romance. The early mis- 
sions were not crusades for the conquest of holy places. They 
were not pilgrimages to sacred shrines. Martial ardor in the 
work was held well in hand by martial skill in the choice of 
methods and localities. 

The same military forecast has ruled Christian missions 
from that day to this, so far as they have been crowned with 
great successes. How little of work and expenditure at hap- 
hazard has entered into the splendid structure of English and 
American missions to the heathen ! How little has the spirit 
of romance or of aesthetic taste ever accomplished in evangeliz- 
ing the nations! The two localities to which the romance of 
Christian enter|)rise would naturally turn are Palestine and 
Greece; the one as the home of our Lord, the other as the 
birthplace of art and culture. Yet how little, comparatively 



OUK COUNTRY. VU 

speaking, have Christian missions achieved in. either land! 
Labor has been as faithful and self-sacrifice as generous there 
as elsewhere; but in the comparison with other missions, 
where are the fruits? 

Success in the work of the world's conversion has, with 
rare exceptions, followed the lines of human growth and pro 
spective greatness. Bat a single exception occurs to one's 
memory — that of the Hawaiian Islands. Seldom has a nation 
been converted to Christ, only to die. The general law has 
been that Christianity should seat itself in the great metropoli- 
tan centers of population and of civilized progress. It has 
allied itself with the most virile races. It has taken possession 
of the most vigorous and enterprising nations. The coloniz- 
ing races and nations have been its favorites. It has aban- 
doned the dying for the nascent languages. Its affinities have 
always been for the youthful, the forceful, the progressive, 
the aspiring in human character, and for that stock of mind 
from which such character springs. By natural sequence, the 
localities where those elements of powerful manhood are, or 
are to be, in most vigorous development, have been the strate- 
gic points of which our religion has taken possession as by a 
masterly military genius. 

The principles of such a strategic wisdom should lead us 
to look on these United States as first and foremost the chosen 
seat of enterprise for the world's conversion. Forecasting the 
future of Christianity, as statesmen forecast the destiny of na- 
tions, we must believe that it will be what the future of this 
country is to be. As goes America, so goes the world, in all 
that is vital to its moral welfare. In this view, this volume 
finds the superlative corollary of its argument. 

AUSTIN PHELPS. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE TIME FACTOR IN THE PROBLEM. 

The closing years of the nineteenth century are one of the great 
focal points in history. It is proposed to show that the progress of 
Christ's kingdom in the world for centuries to come depends on the 
next few years in the United States. — P. 1. 

CHAPTEE II. 

NATIONATi RESOURCES. 

Vastness of our domain, compared with Europe and China. Our 
agricultural resources equal to sustaining 1,000,000,000 inhabitants. 
Mineral wealth : mineral product greater already than that of any 
other country. Manufactures, present and prospective : led Great 
Britain, in 1880, by $650,000,000. Our threefold advantage. United 
States to becoiue the workshop of the world. With all our resources 
fully developed can not only feed, but enrich 1,000,000,000.— P.' 7. 

CHAPTER III. 

WESTERN SUPREMACY. 

Extent of Western States and Territories. Nearly two and one- 
half times as much land west of the Mississippi as east of it, not in- 
cluding Alaska. The " Great American Desert." Amount of arable, 
grazing, timber, and useless lands. Mineral resources of tbe West. 
With more than twice the room and resources of the East, the West 
will have probably twice the population and wealth of the East.-P. 15. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PERILS. —IMMIGRATION. 

Controlling causes threefold. 1. Attracting influences in the 
United States ; prospect of proprietorship in the soil ; this is the 
land of plenty ; free schools. 2. Expellant influences of Europe ; 
prospect not pacific ; France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, Great 
Britain ; military duty ; the "blood tax" ; population becoming more 
crowded. 3. Facilities of travel ; labor saving machinery. All co- 
operate to increase immigration. Foreign population in 1900. 
Moral and political influence of immigration. Influence upon the 
West. -P. 30. 



OUK COUNTRY. OX 

CHAPTER V. 

PEKILS. —ROMANISM. 

I. Conflict of Eomanism with the fundamental principles of our 
government ; liberty of conscience ; free speech, and a free press ; 
free schools ; loyalty to the Constitution and loyalty to the Pope. 
2. Attitude toward our free institutions. 3. Rapid growth of Roman- 
ism in the United States, especially in the West. — P. 46. 

CHAPTER YI. 

PERrLS. — MORMONISM. 

Polygamy not an essential i^art of Mormonism; might be de- 
stroyed without weakening the system. Strength lies in ecclesiastical 
despotism. Mormon designs. The remedy. — P. 59. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PERILS. — INTEMPERANCE. 

I. The progress of civilization renders men the easier victims of 
intemperance. Civilization must destroy the liquor traffic, or be de- 
stroyed by it. The problem serious enough in the East. What of 
the West, where the relative power of the saloon is two-and-one-half 
times greater? 

II. The liquor power; wealth; organization; aims; methods. 
Influence in Rocky Mountains and beyond. — P. 68. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PERILS.— SOCIALISM. 

The Socialistic Labor Party and the International Working-men's 
Association. Teachings. Numbers. Conditions favovable to growth : 
1. Immigration ; 2. Increasing Individualism ; 3. Prevalence of skep- 
ticism ; 4. Development of classes ; 5. Growing discontent. Modern 
enginery of destruction. Conditions at the West peculiarly favorable 
to the growth of Socialism. — P. 85. 

CHAPTER IX. 

PERILS, — WEALTH. 

Comparative statement of wealth. Rate of increase. Advantages 
over Europe. Dangers: 1. Mammonism ; 2. Materialism; 3. Luxuri- 
ousness ; 4. Congestion of wealth. All these dangers greater at the 
West than at the East.— P. 112. 



X OUK COUNTRY. 

CHAPTER X. 

PERILS. —THE CITY. 

Disproportionate growth of the city. Each of the preceding 
perils, except Mormonism, enhanced in the city, and all concentered 
there. Moral and religious influence and government all weakest in 
the city, where they need to be strongest. The West peculiarly 
threatened.— P. 128. 

CHAPTER XI 

THE INFLUENCE OF EABLY SETTLERS. 

First permanent settlers impress their character on future genera- 
tions. Illustrations. Character of the formative influences in the 
West.— P. 144. 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE EXHAUSTION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

Meaning of cheap public lands, and significance of their occupa^ 
tion. Their extent. Exhausted in fifteen or twenty years. The 
character of the West and, hence, the future of the nation to be de' 
termined by 1900.— P. 153. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLD'S FUTURE. 

Reasons why the world's future is to be shaped by the Anglo- 
Saxon. The United States to be the seat of his power. The most 
marked characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon race are here being empha- 
sized, and the race schooled for the competition with other races, 
which will begin as soon as the pressure of popidation on the means 
of support is felt in the United States. The result of that competi- 
tion. The responsibility of this generation. — P. 159. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

For an unparalleled opportunity God has conferred on this gen 
eration the power of unprecedented wealth. It is for the Church to 
recognize the relations of the one to the other.— P. 180. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE TIME FACTOR IN THE PROBLEM. 

There are certain great focal points of history to- 
ward wliich the lines of past progress have converged, 
and from which have radiated the molding influences 
of the future. Such was the Incarnation, such was 
the German Reformation of the sixteenth century, and 
such are the closing years of the nineteenth century, 
second in importance to that only which must always 
remain first : viz., the birth of Christ. 

Many are not aware that we are liviag in extraordi- 
nary times. Few suppose that these years of peaceful 
prosperity, in which we are quietly developing a conti- 
nent, are the pivot on which is tui'ning the nation's 
future. And fewer still imagine that the destinies of 
mankind, for centuries to come, can be seriously af- 
fected, much less determined, by the men of this gen- 
eration in the United States. But no generation ap- 
preciates its own place in history. Several years ago 
Professor Austiu Phelps said: "Five hundred years of 
time in the process of the world's salvation may de- 
pend on the next twenty years of United States his- 
tory" It is proposed in the following pages to show 
that such dependence of the world's future on this 
generation ia America is not only credible, but in the 
highest degree probable. 



A THE TIME FAOTOK IN THE PKOBLEM. 

To attribute such importance to the present hour 
may strike one who has given little or no study to the 
subject as quite extravagant. It is easy to see how a 
great battle may in a day prove decisive of a nation's 
future. A political revolution or a diplomatic act in 
some great crisis may cut the thread of destiny ; but 
how is it possible that a few years of national growth, 
in time of peace, may be thus fateful? Great civil- 
izations have been the product of ages. Their char- 
acter is slowly developed, and changes therein are 
slowly wrought. What are twenty years in a nation's 
growth, that they should be so big with destiny? 

It must not be forgotten that the pulse and the pace 
of the world have been marvelously quickened during 
the nineteenth century. Much as we boast its achieve- 
ments, not every one appreciates how large a propor- 
tion of the world's progress in civilization has been 
made since the application of steam to travel, com- 
merce, manufactures, and printing. At the beginning 
of this century there was very little travel. Men lived 
in isolated communities. Mutually ignorant, they natu- 
rally were mutually suspicious. In English villages a 
stranger was an enemy. Under such conditions there 
could be little exchange of ideas and less of commodi- 
ties. Buxton says: "Intercourse is the soul of prog- 
ress." The impetus given to inter-communication of 
every sort by the application of steam was the begin- 
ning of a new life in the world. Crompton's spinning- 
mule was invented in 1775 ; Cartwright's power-loom 
in 1787 ; and Whitney's cotton-gin in 1793 ; but they 
did not come into common use until the nineteenth 
century. At the outbreak of the Eevolutionary War 
there were in use in English and American homes the 
same primitive means by which the world's wool and 



THE TIME FACTOR IN THE PROBLEM. 6 

flax had been reduced to yarn for thousands of years, 
the same rude contrivance used in ancient Mycenae 
and Troy by Homer's heroines. There are men alive 
to-day, whose mothers, like Solomon's virtuous woman, 
laid their hands to the spindle and distaff, and knew no 
other way. William Faii'bairn, an eminent mechanic, 
states that "in the beginning of the century the human 
hand performed all the work that was done, and per- 
formed it badly." Methods of travel and communi- 
cation were as primitive as those of manufacture. 
"Toward the close of the eighteenth century Lord 
Campbell accomplished the journey from Edinburgh to 
London in three days and three nights But judicious 
friends w^arned him of the dangers of this enterprise, 
and told him that several persons who had been so 
rash as to attempt it had actually died from the mere 
rapidity of the motion."* In 1879 the railways of Great 
Britain conveyed 629,000,000 passengers.f It took 
Dr. Atkinson eight months to go from New England 
to Oregon in 1847. When he retui^ned the journey 
occupied six days. When the battle of Waterloo was 
fought (1815) all haste delivered the tlnilling dispatches 
in London three days later. The news of the bom- 
bardment of Alexandria (1882) was received in the 
English capital a few minutes after the first shell was 
thrown. 

Any one as old as the nineteenth century has seen a 
very lar^e proportion of all the progress in civilization 
made by the race. "\ATien seven years old he might 
have seen Fulton's steamboat on her trial trip up the 
Hudson. Until twenty years of age he could not have 
found in all the world an iron plow. At thirty he 

* Mackenzie's History of the Nineteenth Century, t aiulhalL 



4 THE TIME FACTOR IN THE PROBLEM. 

might have traveled on the first railway passenger 
train. Fifty years later the world had 222,000 miles 
of railway. For the first thirty-three years of his life 
he had to rely on the tinder-box for fire. He was 
thirty-eight when steam communication between Eu- 
rope and America was established. He had arrived at 
middle life (forty-four) when the first telegram was 
sent. Thirty-six years later the world had 604,000 
miles of telegraph lines. Our century has been dis- 
tinguished by a rising flood of inventions. The En- 
glish government issued more patents during the 
twenty years succeeding 1850 than during the two 
hundred and fifty years preceding. 

But this has not been simply a mechanical era of 
marvelous material progress. With the exception of 
astronomy, modern science, as we now know it, is 
almost wholly the creation of the nineteenth century. 
In this century, too, have the glorious fruits of mod- 
ern missions all been gathered. Another evidence of 
progress which, if less obvious than material results, 
is more conclusive, is found in the great ideas which 
have become the fixed possession of men within the 
past hundred years. Among them is that of individual 
liberty, which is radically different from the ancient 
conception of freedom that lay at the foundation of 
the Greek and Eoman republics, and later, of the free 
cities of Italy. Theu's was a liberty of class, or clan, 
or nation, not of the individual; he existed for the 
government. The idea that the government exists for 
the individual is modern. 

From this idea of individual liberty follows logically 
the abolition of slavery. At the close of the eight eenth 
century slavery existed almost everywhere — -inBussTa, 
Hungary, Prussia, Austria, Scotland, in the British, 



THE TIME FACTOR IN THE PROBLEM. ^Q 

French, and Spanish colonies, and in North and South 
America. Dui'ing the first seven yeai's of this century 
EngHsh ships conveyed across the Atlantic 280,000 
Africans, one-half of whom perished amid the horrors 
of the "middle passage," or soon after landing. But 
this centuiy has seen slavery practically destroyed in 
all Christendom. 

Another idea, which, like that of individual Hberty, 
finds its root in the teachings of Christ, and has grown 
up slowly thi'ough the ages to blossom in our own, 
is that of honor to womanhood, whose fruitage is 
woman's elevation. Eai'ly in this century it was not 
very uncommon for an Englishman to sell his wife into 
servitude. "A gentleman in this country, in 1815, 
having access to not a very large number of English 
sources of information, found, in a single year, thirty- 
nine instances of wives exposed to public sale, like 
cattle, at Smithfield."* The amazement or incredulity 
with which such a statement is received by this gener- 
ation is the best comment on it. 

Another striking evidence of progress is found in 
the enhanced valuation of human life, which has 
served to humanize law and mitigate "man's inhuman- 
ity to man." At the beginning of this century noth 
ing was cheaper than human life. In the eye of 
English law the life of a rabbit was worth more than 
that of a man ; for even an attempt upon the former 
cost the sa'crifice of the latter. The law recognized 

* Dorchester's Problem of Eeligious Progress, p. 219. The JSew Monthly 
WagaziJie, for September, 1814, contains tbe following: " Shropshire.— A 
well-looking woman, wife of John Hall, to whom she had been married 
only one month, was brought by him in a halter, and sold by auction, in the 
market, for two and sixpence, with the addition of sixpence for the rope 
with which she was led. In this sale the customary market fees were 
charged— toll, one penny; pitching, three pence." 



6 THE TIME FACTOR IN THE PBOBLEM. 

two hundred and twenty-three capital offences. "If a 
man injured Westminster Bridge, he was hanged. If 
he appeared disguised on a public road, he was hanged. 
If he cut down young trees ; if he shot at rabbits ; if 
he stole property valued at five shillings; if he stole 
anything at all from a bleach field; if he wrote a 
threatening letter to extort money; if he returned 
prematurely from transportation — for any of these 
oftenses he was immediately hanged." "In 1816 there 
were at one time (in England) fifty-eight persons under 
sentence of death. One of these was a child ten years 
old."* 

Space does not suffer even the mention of other 
noble ideas, the growth of which has enriched our 
civilization and elevated man. Our glance at the con- 
dition, fourscore years ago, of the most enlightened 
of the nations, hasty as it has been, suffices to remind 
us of the amazing changes which have taken place 
within a few years ; and to show that if we reckon time 
by its results, twenty years of this century may out- 
measure a millennium of olden time. 

As the traveler in Asia follows the sun westward 
around the world, he finds life growing ever more in- 
tense and time more potent. 

"Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay." 

And to carry the comparison between the East and 
the West a degree further, permit me to quote an in- 
telligent Englishman who is a competent witness; viz., 
Mr. Joseph Hatton, who says: "Ten years in the 
history of America is half a century of European- pro- 
gress. Ten years ago the manufactures of America were 
too insignificant for consideration in the Old World. 

* Mackenzie's History of the Nineteenth Century. 



NATIONAL RESOURCES. 



To-day England herself is successfully rivaled by 
American productions in her own markets."* But the 
comparison does not end here. Ten years in the New 
West are, in theii' results, fully equal to half a century 
east of the Mississippi. There is there a tremendous 
rush of events which is startling, even in the nine- 
teenth century. That western world in its progress is 
gathering momentum like a falling body. Yast regions 
have been 'settled before, but never before under the 
mighty whip and spur of electricity and steam. Kef er- 
ring to the development of the West, the London Times 
remarks: "Unquestionably, this is the most impor- 
tant fact in contemporary history. It is a new fact, it can 
not be compared with any cognate phenomenon in the 
past." And, as it is without a precedent, so it will re- 
main without a parallel, for there are no more New 
Worlds. 



CHAPTER II. 



NATIONAL RESOURCES. 



It is necessary to the argument to show that the 
United States is capable of sustaining a vast popula- 
tion. 

The fathers on Massachusetts Bay once decided that 
population was never likely to be very dense west of 
Newton (a suburb of Boston), and the founders of Lynn, 

* To-day in America, 1881. 



8 NATIONAL RESOUBCES. 

after exploring ten or fifteen miles, doubted whether 
the country was good for anything farther west than 
that. Until recent times, only less inadequate has been 
the popular conception of the transmissouri region 
and the millions destined to inhabit it. Of late years, 
home missionary writers and speakers have tried to 
astonish us into some appreciation of our national 
domain. Yet it may well be doubted whether even he 
who has pondered most upon its magnitude has a 
"realizing sense" of it. Though astonishing compari- 
sons have ceased to astonish, I know of no means more 
effective or more just by which to present our physical 
basis of empire. 

What, then, should we say of a republic of eighteen 
states, each as large as Spain; or one of thirty-one 
states, each as large as Italy ; or one of sixty states, 
each as large as England and Wales ? What a confed- 
eration of nations ! Take five of the six first-class 
Powers of Europe, Great Britain and Ireland, France, 
Germany, Austria, and Italy ; then add Spain, Portugal, 
Switzerland, Denmark, and Greece. Let some greater 
than Napoleon weld them into one mighty empire, and 
you could lay it all down in the United States west of 
the Hudson River, once, and again, and again — three 
times. Well may Mr. Gladstone say that we have " a 
natural base for the greatest continuous empire ever 
established by man ;" and well may the English premier 
add: "And the distinction between continuous empire 
and empire severed and dispersed over sea is vital."* 
With the exception of Alaska our territory is compact, 
and though so vast, is unified by railways and an un- 
equaled system of rivers and lakes. The latter, occu- 

• Kin Beyond the Sea. 



NATIONAL EESOUECES 9 

pying a lai-ger ai'ea than Great Britain and Ii'eland, are 
said to contain nearly one-half of all the fresh water 
on the glo'Ge. We are told that east of the Rocky 
Mountains we have a river -flow of more than 40,000 
miles {i.e., 80,000 miles of river-bank), counting no 
stream less than a hundred miles in length ; while "Eu- 
rope in a larger space has but 17,000 miles. It is esti- 
mated * that the Mississippi, with its affluents, affords 
35,000 miles of navigation. A steamboat may pass up 
the IVIississippi and Missouri 3,900 miles from the Gulf 
— " as far as from New York to Constantinople."! 
Thus a " vast system of natural canals" carries our sea- 
board into the very heart of the continent. 

But what of the resources of this great empke which 
makes so brave a display on the map ? Alaska is capa- 
ble of producing great wealth, but not including this 
territory, the area of the United States, according to 
the census of 1880, is 2,970,000 square miles. Accord- 
ing to the smallest estimate I have ever seen (and 
doubtless too small), we have 1,500,000 square miles of 
arable land. China proper, which, according to her 
last census, supports a population of 360,000,000, has 
an area of 1,348,870 square miles, or considerably less 
than one-half of ours, not including Alaska. The Chi- 
nese could hardly be called a manufacturing people ; 
and when their last census was taken (1812), their for- 
eign commerce was inconsiderable. That vast popula- 
tion, therefore, drew its support from the soil. The 
mountains of China occupy an area of more thaQ 
300,000 square miles, and some of her plains are bar- 
ren. It would seem, then, that our arable lands, taking 
the lowest estimate, are in excess of those of China, by 
some hundreds of thousands of square miles. The 
• Encyclopedia Britannica. t Dr. Qoodell. 



10- NATIONAL RESOURCES. 

fact, therefore, that Chinese agriculture, with its rude 
implements, feeds hundreds of millions ought, certainly, 
to be suggestive to Americans. 

The crops of 1879, after feeding our 50,000,000 in- 
habitants, furnished more than 283,000,000 bushels of 
grain for export. The corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, 
buckwheat and potatoes — that is, the food crops, wepe 
that year produced on 105,097,750 acres, or 164,215 
square miles. But that is less than one-ninth of the 
smallest estimate of our arable lands. If, therefore, 
it were all brought under the plow, it would feed 
450,000,000 and afford 2,554,000,000 bushels of grain 
for export. But this is not all. So excellent an au- 
thority as Mr. Edward Atkinson says that where we 
now support 50,000,000 people, " one hundred million 
could be sustained without increasing the area of a 
single farm, or adding one to their number, by merely 
bringing our product up to our average standard of 
reasonably good agriculture; and then there might 
remain for export twice the quantity we now send 
abroad to feed the hungry in foreign lands." If this 
be true (and it will hardly be questioned by any one 
widely acquainted with our wasteful American farm- 
ing), 1,500,000 square miles of cultivated land — less 
than one-half of our entire area this side of Alaska — 
are capable of feeding a population of 900,000,000, and 
of producing an excess of 5,100,000,000 bushels of 
grain for exportation; or, if the crops were all con- 
sumed at home, it would feed a population one-eighth 
larger; viz., 1,012,000,000. This corresponds very 
nearly with results obtained by an entirely different 
process from data afforded by the best scientific au- 
thority.* It need not, therefore, make a very severe 
* See Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. l, p. 717. 



NATIONAL RESOURCES. 11 

draught on credulity to say that oui' agricultural re- 
sources, if fully developed, would sustain a thousand 
million souls. 

But we have wonderful wealth under the soil as well 
as in it. From 1870 to 1880 we produced $732,000,- 
000 of the precious metals. The United States now 
raises one-half the gold and silver of the world's sup- 
ply. Iron ore is to-day mined in twenty-three of our 
states. 'A number of them could singly supply the 
world's demand. Our coal measures are simply inex- 
haustible. English coal-pits, already deep, are being 
deepened, so that the cost of coal-mining in Great 
Britain is constantly increasing, while we have coal 
enough near the surface to supply us for centuries. 
When storing away the fuel for the ages, God knew 
the place and work to which he had appointed us, and 
gave to us twenty times as much of this concrete power 
as to all the peoples of Europe. Among the nations 
ours is the youngest — the Benjamin — and Benjamin- 
like we have received a five-fold portion. Surely " He 
hath not dealt so with any people." Our mineral pro- 
ducts are of unequaled richness and variety. The 
remarkable increase from 1870 to 1880 * places us at 
the head of the nations. Our mining industries exceed 
those of Great Britain three per cent., and are greater 
than those of all continental Europe, Asia, Africa, 
South America, Mexico, and the British Colonies col- 
lectively ; and as yet, we have hardly begun to develop 
these resoui'ces. Thousands of square miles of min- 
eral wealth lie wholly untouched. 

♦Mulhall. 

1870. 1880, Increase. 

Iron ore, tons 4,500,000 9,500,000 110 per cent. 

Copper " 12,700 20,300 60 " 

Coal " 33,000,000 55,000,000 66 « 

Petroleum, gallons 42,000,000 860,000,000 20-fol(L 



12 NATIONAL RESOUBCES. 

Let US glance at oui* manufactujes, present and pro- 
spective. Our first great advantage is found in our 
superabounding coal. Our second lies in the fact that 
we have our raw material at hand. England must go 
at least 3,000 miles for every cotton boll she spins ; we 
raise our own. And mills are now being built in the 
South which manufacture the cotton where it is grown. 
We produce also the wool, the woods, the hides, the 
metals of every sort, all that is required for nearly 
every variety of manufacture. The remaining advan- 
tage which crowns our opportunity is the quality of 
our labor ; American operatives being, as a class, the 
most ingenious and intelligent in the world. Invent- 
iveness has come to be a national trait. The United 
States Government issues four times as many patents 
as the English. From the Patent Office in Washing- 
ton there were issued, during 1884, 20,297 patents. 
At the International Electrical Exposition in Paris, a 
few years ago, five gold medals were given for the 
greatest inventions or discoveries. How many of them, 
think you, came to the United States 1 Only five. The 
Mechanical Worlds of London, says that the United 
States has the best machinery and tools in the world; 
and Mr. Loucdelot, who was recently sent over here by 
the French Minister of Commerce, says that the 
superiority of tools used here, and the attention to 
details too often neglected in Europe, are elements of 
danger to European industries. Herbert Spencer tes- 
tifies that " Beyond question, in respect of mechanical 
appliances, the Americans are ahead of all nations."* 
The fact of superior tools would alone give us no small 
advantage, but the possession of the best machinery 

* For much additional and weighty testimony to the same point, see re- 
port of Massaehiisptt<< Bureau of Statistics of Labor for 1879, pp. xiii and xlv. 



NATIONAL RESOUECES. 13 

implies much more; viz., that we have also the best 
mechanics in the world. 

In close competition, any one of the three advan- 
tages enumerated ought to insui-e ultimate supremacy ; 
the coincidence, then, of these thi'ee great essentials of 
manufactures, each in such signal measui-e as to con- 
stitute together a triple advantage, must dehver over 
to us the markets of the world. Already have we won 
the fii'st rank as a manufacturing people, our products 
in 1880 having exceeded even those of Great Britain 
by $650,000,000. So soon is Mi\ Gladstone's prophecy, 
uttered five or six years ago, finding its fulfillment. 
Speaking of the United States, he said: "She will 
probably become what we are now, the head servant in 
the great household of the world, the employer of all 
employed, because her service will be the most and 
ablest." And it is interesting to note not only our 
position, but our rate of progress. While the manu- 
factures of France, from 1870 to 1880, increased $230,- 
000,000, those of Germany $430,000,000, and those of 
Great Britain $580,000,000, those of the United States 
increased $1,030,000,000.* Moreover, the marked ad- 
vantages which we now enjoy are to be enhanced. 
While England's coal is growing dearer, ours will be 
growing cheaper. The development of our vast re- 
sources will greatly increase, and hence cheapen, raw 
materials. The superior ingenuity and intelligence of 
our mechanics and operatives, which enable us now to 
compete with the cheaper labor of Europe, will con- 
tinue to give us better machinery, while our rapidly 
increasing population will cheapen labor. Even now, 
with cheap labor against us, we can lay down our 

♦ Our total agricultural products for 1880 were $2,625,000,000 ; our map-v 
lactures for the same year were $4,440,000,000. 



14 NATIONAL HESOURCES. 

steels in Sheffield, our lower grades of cotton in Man- 
chester, our electro-plate in Birmingham, and our 
watches in Geneva, and undersell European manufac- 
turers on their own doorsills. What, then, may we 
reasonably expect, when, with a dense population, 
cheap labor is no longer against us ? And while our 
manufactures are growing, our markets are to be 
greatly extended. Steam and electricity have mightily 
compressed the earth. The elbows of the nations 
touch. Isolation — the mother of barbarism — ^is be- 
coming impossible. The mysteries of Africa are being 
laid open, the pulse of her commerce is beginning to 
beat. South America is being quickened, and the dry 
bones of Asia are moving; the warm breath of the 
Nineteenth Century is breathing a living soul under 
her ribs of death. The world is to be Christianized 
and civihzed. There are about 1,000,000,000 of the 
world's inhabitants who do not enjoy a Christian civil- 
ization. Two hundred millions of these are to be 
lifted out of savagery. Much has been accomplished 
in this direction during the past seventy-five years, but 
much more will be done during the next fifty. And 
what is the process of civilizing but the creating of 
more and higher wants f Commerce follows the mis- 
sionary. Five hundred American plows went to the 
native Christians of Natal in one year. The millions 
of Africa and Asia are some day to have the wants of a 
Christian civilization. The beginnings of life in India 
demand $12,000,000 worth of iron manufactures, and 
$100,000,000 worth of cotton goods in a single year. 
What will be the wants of Asia a century hence? A 
Christian civilization performs the miracle of the loaves 
and fishes, and feeds its thousands in a desert. It 
multiplies populations. A thousand civilized men 



WESTERN SUPEEMACY. 15 

thrive where a hundred savages starved. What, then, 
will be the population and w^hat the w^ants of Africa, a 
centuiy hence ? And with these vast continents added 
to our market, with our natural advantages fully real- 
ized, what is to prevent the United States from becom- 
ing the mighty workshop of the world, and our people 
"the hands of mankind" ? 

If it is not unreasonable to believe that our agricul- 
tirral resources alone, when fully developed, are capa- 
ble of feeding 1,000,000,000, then surely, with our agri- 
cultural and mining and manufacturing industries all 
fully developed, the United States can sustain and en- 
rich such a population. Truly has Matthew Arnold 
said : " America holds the future." 



CHAPTER III. 



WESTERN SUPREMACY. 



"I NEVER felt as if I were out of doors before!" ex- 
claimed a New Englander, as he stepped ofi the cars 
west of the Mississippi, for the first time. 

The West is characterized by largeness. Mountains, 
rivers, railways, ranches, herds, crops, business trans- 
actions, ideas ; even men's virtues and vices are Cyclo- 
pean. All seem to have taken a touch of vastness 
from the mighty horizon. Western stories are on the 
same large scale, so large, indeed, that it often takes a 
dozen eastern men to believe one of them. Thev have 



16 WESTERN SUPREMACY. 

a secret suspicion that even the best attested are in- 
flated exaggerations, which, pricked by investigation, 
would burst, leaving behind a very small residuum of 
fact. It will be necessary, therefore, to glance rapidly 
at the resources of the West, in order to show that it 
will eventually dominate the East. And by " the 
West" I mean that portion of the country lying west 
of the Mississippi, not including Alaska, unless so 
specified ; for, though that territory has vast resources 
which will some day add much to our wealth, the na- 
tional destiny is to be settled this side of Alaska. 

Of the twenty-two states and territories west of the 
Mississippi only three are as small as all New England. 
Montana would stretch from Boston on the east to 
Cleveland on the west, and extend far enough south to 
include Richmond, Va. Idaho, if laid down in the 
East, would touch Toronto, Can., on the north, and 
Baleigh, N. C, on the south, while its southern 
boundary line is long enough to stretch from Wash- 
ington City to Columbus, O.; and California, if on oui- 
Atlantic seaboard, would extend from the southern 
line of Massachusetts to the lower part of South Caro- 
lina; or, in Europe, it would extend from London 
across France and well into Spain. New Mexico is 
larger than the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland. The greatest measurement of Texas is nearly 
equal to the distance from New Orleans to Chicago, or 
from Chicago to Boston. Lay Texas on the face of 
Europe, and this giant, with his head resting on the 
mountains of Norway (directly east of the Orkney 
Islands), with one palm covering London, the other 
Warsaw, would stretch himself down across the king- 
dom of Denmark, across the empires of Germany and 
Austria, across Northern Italy, and lave his feet in the 



WESTERN SUPREMACY. 17 

Mediterranean. Dakota might be carved into a half- 
dozen kingdoms of Greece ; or, if it were divided into 
twenty-six equal counties, we might lay down the two 
kingdoms of Judah and Israel in each. 

Place the 50,000,000 inhabitants of the United States 
in 1880 all in Texas, and the population would not be 
as dense as that of Germany. Put them in Dakota, 
and the population would not be as dense as that of 
England ^nd Wales. Place them in New Mexico, and 
the density of population would not be as great as that 
of Belgium. Those 50,000,000 might all be comfort- 
ably sustained in Texas. After allowing, say 50,000 
square miles for " desert," Texas could have produced 
all our food crops in 1879 — grown, as we have seen, on 
164,215 square miles of land — could have raised the 
world's supply of cotton, 12,000,000 bales, at one bale 
to the acre, on 19,000 square miles, and then have had 
remaining, for a cattle range, a territory larger than 
the State of N'ew York. 

Accounting all of Minnesota and Louisiana west 'of 
the Mississippi, for convenience, we have, according to 
the census of 1880,* 2,115,135 square miles in the 
West and 854,865 in the East. That is, for every acre 
east of the IMississippi we have nearly two and a half 
west of it. But what of the "Great American Desert," 
which occupied so much space on the map a genera- 
tion ago ? It is nomadic and elusive ; it recedes be- 
fore advancing civilization like the Indian and buffalo 
which once roamed it. There ai'e extensive regions, 
which, because of rocks or lava-beds or alkali or alti- 
tude or lack of rain, are unfit for the plow ; but they 
afford much of the finest grazing country in the world, 

* The areas of the states given in the Ninth Census have been recomputed 
for the Tenth. 



18 WESTEEN SUPREMACY. 

much valuable timber, and mineral wealth which is 
enormous. Useless land, though much in the aggre- 
gate, is far less than is commonly supposed, and in 
comparison with wealth-producing lands is almost in- 
significant. The vast region east of the Kocky Mount- 
ains, though once the home of the " Great American 
Desert," really contains very little useless land. We 
have all heard of the " Bad Lands" of Dakota, but they 
comprise only about 75,000 acres out of 94,528,000 in 
the territory, and even these lands are an excellent 
stock-range. Mr. E, V. Smalley says*: "Cattle come 
out of the Bad Lands in the spring as fat as though 
they had been stall-fed all winter." The United States 
Surveyor-General says: "The proportion of waste 
land in the territory (Dakota), owing to the absence of 
swamps, mountain ranges, overflowed and sandy tracts, 
is less than in any other state or territory in the 
Union." There are 20,000 square miles of "Bad 
Lands" in Northwestern Nebraska, rich in wonderful 
fossils, but economically worthless. It is often said 
that the Kansas lands near the Colorado border are al- 
kaline; but Professor Mudge, State Geologist, says 
that, in fifteen years of exploration, he has found but 
two springs containing alkalies, and has never seen ten 
acres of land in one place which has been injm^ed by it. 
There is probably as little waste land in Kansas as in 
Illinois. The " Staked Plain" of Texas is sometimes 
spoken of as a desert ; but a Texan writer, who has 
lived there for years, says of it : " While it is true that 
this vast territory which we are describing is mainly a 
grazing country, it is also true that it abounds in fer- 
tile valleys and rich locations of large extent, which are 
as well watered and as fertile as any in the natio^ 
• The Century for August, 1882. 



WESTERN SUPREMACY. 19 

Tnat portion of the " Staked Plain" which, is mountain- 
ous is rich in minerals. 

Driven from the plains east of the Rocky Mountains, 
the " Great American Desert" seems to have become a 
fugitive and vagabond on the face of the earth. It 
was located for a time by the map makers in Utah, but 
being persecuted there, it fled to Arizona and Nevada. 
I do not mean to iniply that there are no waste lands 
in Utah. Portions of the territory are as worthless as 
some of its people. There are some deserts, one west 
of the Great Salt Lake, which contains several thou- 
sand square miles ; but the Surveyor-General of the 
Territory says: "Notwithstanding the opinion of 
many who deem our lands ' arid, desert, and worthless,' 
these same lands, under proper tillage, produce forty 
to fifty bushels of wheat, seventy to eighty bushels of 
oats and barley, from two hundred to four hundred 
bushels of potatoes to the acre, and fruits and vegeta- 
bles equal to any other state or territory in quantity and 
quahty." There are vast tracts which can not be irri- 
gated, but it has been discovered that by deep plowing, 
these same lands, without artificial moisture, can be 
made to produce bountifully. The culture of these 
high lands was, the past year, thoroughly successful. 
Arizona has been considered a waste, and undoubtedly 
much land there is arid ; but, on the other hand, there 
is much also which is wealth producing. Gen. J. C. 
Fremont, who, as Governor of the Territory for several 
years, had exceptional facilities for gaining informa- 
tion, in his official report in 1878, said : " So far as my 
present knowledge goes, the grazing and farming lands 
comprehend an area equal to that of the State of New 
York." And a writer in Harper's Magazine for March, 
1883, says : " It is estimated by competent authority 



20 WESTERN SUPREMACY. 

that, with irrigation, thirty-seven per cent, can be re- 
deemed for agriculture, and sixty per cent, for pastur- 
age." * Certain it is that when the Spaniards j&rst 
visited the territory, in 1526, they found ruins of cities 
and irrigating caaals, which indicated that it was once 
densely populated by a civilized race which subsisted 
by agriculture. 

There is more barren land in Nevada than in any 
other state or territory of the West. The wealth of 
the state is not agricultural or pastoral, but mineral. 
Nevertheless the Surveyor- General of the State says: 
" In our sage-brush lands, alfalfa, the cereals, and all 
vegetables flourish in profusion where water can be 
obtained, and the state is speedily becoming one of 
the great stock-raising states of the Union." A good 
authority estimates that eventually one-half of the 
state can be made valuable. 

The area in which occur, here and there, most of the 
worthless lands of the West, is pyramidal in shape, the 
base extending along the Mexican line into Texas, and 
the apex being found in the northern part of Idaho. 
That is, the proportion of useless lands decreases as 
you go north, until it seems to disappear entirely be- 
fore reaching the Northern Pacific Eailway. Mr. E. V. 
Smalley, who, in the summer of 1882, traveled the line 
of that road before its completion, writes : f " The 
whole country traversed through the northern tier of 
territories, from Eastern Dakota to Washington, is a 
habitable region. For the entire distance every square 
mile of the country is valuable either for farming, 

* From all the information I can gatlier, this latter estimate seems to me 
too large. In my computation of the valuable lands of the West, page 21, T 
have caller! 55,000 square miles in Arizona, about one-half of the territory, 
worthless. 

t Tlie Century Magazine fop Oct., 1882. 



WESTERN SUPREMACY. 21 

stock-raising, or timber-cutting. There is absolutely 
no waste land between the well-settled region of Dakota 
and the new wheat region of Washington Territory. 
Even on the tops of the Rocky Mountains there is good 
pasturage ; and the vast timber belt enveloping Clark's 
Fork and Lake Pend d' Oreille, and the ranges of the 
Cabinet and Coeur d' Alene Mountains is more valu- 
able than an equal extent of arable land." 

Comparatively little of the Rocky Mountain region 
has been surveyed. In the absence of exact knowledge, 
therefore, we must rely on the estimates of Surveyor- 
Generals, Governors, and others who have had oppor- 
tunities to form intelHgent opinions concerning the 
available lands of the West. In some cases official re- 
ports of siu'veys have afforded accurate information; 
but in most it has been necessary to rely on estimates 
which pretend to be only approximately correct. I be- 
lieve they are temperate, and will prove to be rather 
under than over the truth. According to these esti- 
mates, the region west of the Mississippi embraces 
785,000 square miles of arable lands, 645,000 of grazing 
lands, 260,000 of timber lands, and 425,000 square 
miles which are useless, except so far as they are min- 
eral lands. In weighing these figures several consid- 
erations should be borne in mind. 

1. Generally speaking, those best acquainted with 
the West make the largest estimates of its resources 
and have the most faith in its future. 

2. Land often appears worthless which experiment 
proves to be fertile. For instance, the " Great Colum- 
bia Plains" of Eastern Washington. The soil, which 
varies from one foot to twenty feet in depth, is, except 
in the bottom lands, a very light-colored loam, con- 
taining an unusually large percentage of alkalies and 



22 WESTEEN SUPREMACY. 

fixed acids. A few years ago, sowing wheat on that 
soil would have been deemed throwing it away; but 
the experiment resulted in a revelation; viz., that 
these 14,000,000 acres of peculiar soil are probably 
the best wheat fields in all the world. Other illustra- 
tions equally striking might be given. Kev. A. Blanch- 
ard. Home Missionary Superintendent for East Wyo- 
ming and Colorado,* writes : " Nothing is more sur- 
prising than the material for supporting a population 
which continues to be developed in all this region of 
mountain and plain, which, twenty years ago, was con- 
sidered an inhospitable desert, capable of supporting 
nothing but Indians." 

3. Barren lands are often rendered fruitful. Water 
is all that is needed to make most of our western " des- 
erts" blossom as the rose. In 1882 twelve Artesian 
wells were sunk in Tulare County, California, with as- 
tonishing results. They were found to flow from 
200,000 to 1,500,000 gallons daily; and where once 
were barren plains, the fields are a succession of vine- 
yards, orchards, and wheat fields. Since then many of 
these wells have been sunk in Arizona, Nevada, New 
Mexico and Colorado. Moreover, the rainfall seems to 
be increasing with the cultivation of the soil. It is 
also worthy of note that what rain there is usually 
falls in those months when it is most needed, and that 
there is little or none during harvest. 

Oftentimes all that a sterile soil needs is treatment 
with some mineral which Nature has deposited near 

by. 

4. The arable lands in the Rocky Mountains are 
mainly in valleys, which, like basins, have gathered the 
detritus of the mountains for ages. The soil is, there- 

* Since transferred to Kansas. 



WESTERN SUPREMACY. 23 

fore, very deep and strong, yielding mucli more tlian 
tlie same area in the East; and in the Southwest 
two crops a year from the same soil are very common, 
so that this land is equal to twice or three times the 
same area in the East. 

5. The above estimate of arable lands in the West 
does not include the timber lands, a large proportion 
of which is of the finest quality. Of the 260,000 
square mil'es of timber, 45,000 are in Texas, 26,000 in 
Arkansas, and 25,000 in Minnesota. Nearly one-half 
of the whole is in the Mississippi valley, and a good 
deal of the remainder is on fine soil, so that it is 
reasonable to infer that 100,000 square miles, or more, 
of this timber land would be arable, if cleared. More- 
over, much of the 645,000 square miles of grazing 
land will prove to be arable. We may, therefore, ex- 
pect the arable lands of the West ultimately to reach 
900,000 square miles, and perhaps 1,000,000. 

6. A considerable portion of the 854,865 square 
miles east of the Mississippi is not arable. In New 
England, New York, and Pennsylvania there are 94,500 
square miles of unimproved lands.* It is a fail' infer- 
ence that in the old states where land has long been 
in demand, so much would not remain unimproved 
unless generally incapable of improvement. Through- 
out the many mountain ranges of the entire Appa- 
lachian system, there is much waste land and more 
that is not arable. In the absence of any exact data it 
would seem from the facts just given, that there must 
be not less than 50,000 or 60,000 square miles of waste 
land east of the Mississippi, and twice as much that is 

•New England has 28,468 square miles not in farms, 41,500 unimproved. 
New York » 10,402 " " " " " 29,000 « 

Pennsylvania " 13,952 " " " " " 24,000 « 



24 WESTERN SUPREMACY. 

not fit for the plow. This reduces the arable lands of 
the East to about 700,000 square miles as against 
785,000 in the West, with the probable eventual ad- 
dition to the latter of one or two hundred thousand 
more. For every acre in the East, bad as well as good, 
there is another in the West capable of producing 
food ; and in addition, a timber area as vast as all New 
England, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio 
and Indiana And this, be it remembered, does not 
include the magnificent timber lands of Alaska, which 
William H. Seward said would one day make that ter- 
ritory the ship-yard of the world. And in addition to 
all this, the West has grazing lands 50,000 squai'e miles 
broader than the total area of all the states east of 
the Mississippi not above enumerated. In 1880 there 
were in the West 61,211,000 head of live stock ; and 
those vast plains are capable of sustaining several 
times that number. The West, therefore, has 1,690,000 
square miles of useful land against 800,000 in the East, 
more than twice as much. 

Nor have we finished our inventory of western 
wealth. Its mineral resources are simply inexhaustible. 
The precious metals have been found in most of the 
states and territories of oui* Western Empire. From 
the discovery of gold to June 30th, 1881, California 
has produced $1,170,000,000 of that metal. The an- 
nual product is now from eighteen to twenty-five mil- 
lions. From 1863 to 1880, Idaho produced $90,000,- 
000 of gold and silver, and Montana from 1861 to 1879, 
not less than $162,000,000. In twenty years, Nevada 
produced $448,545,000 of the precious metals. The 
production of Colorado, during the twenty-four years 
preceding 1883, was $167,000,000. Her out-put for 
1882 w^as $27,000,000. In wealth producing power a 



WESTEBN SUPREMACY. 2§ 

single rich mine represents a great area of arable land. 
For instance the Comstock Lode, in 1877, produced 
$37,062,252. Those twelve insignificant looking holes 
in the side of the mountain yielded more wealth that yeai* 
than 3,890,000 acres planted to corn the same year. 
That is, those few square rods on the surface in Ne- 
vada were as large as all the corn fields of New Eng- 
land, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, "Wisconsin, 
and IVlinnesota collectively. Rocky Mountain wealth, 
penetrating thousands of feet into the earth, compen- 
sates for large areas of barren surface. The agricul- 
tural resources of a country do not now as formerly 
determine its possible population. To-day easy trans- 
portation makes regions populous and wealthy, which 
once were uninhabitable. Even if a blade 'of grass 
could not be made to grow in all the Eocky Mountain 
States, that region could sustain 100,000,000 souls, 
provided it has sufficient mineral wealth to exchange 
for the produce of the Mississippi valley. Quartz 
mines have been known in the Rockies for years, which 
could not be worked without heavy machinery. The 
inner chambers of God's great granite safes, where the 
silver and gold have been stored for ages to enrich 
this generation, are fastened with time locks, set for 
the advent of the railway. The projection of railway 
systems into the mountains will rapidly develop these 
mines. For the year ending May 31st, 1880, the 
United States produced 55 tons 724 pounds (avoir- 
dupois) of gold, and 1,090 tons 398 pounds of silver. 
"These huge figiu^es may be better grasped, perhaps, 
by considering that the gold represents five ordinary 
cai'-loads, while a train of 109, freight cars of the usual 
capacity would be required to transport the silver.* 

•Tenth Census. 



26 



WESTERN SUPREMACY. 



But tlie precious metals constitute only a small part 
of tlie mineral wealth of the West. "An eminent 
metallurgist and scientist has recently estimated the 
entire mineral production of the region west of the 
Mississippi, for the year 1880, as worth $1,000,000,000 
and has given the items on which his estimate is 
based."* This sum is equal to the value of live-elev- 
enths of all our agricultural products for the same 
year. The West has upwards of 200,000 square miles 
of coal measure, thirty-eight times the area of all tte 
coal fields of Great Britain. Excepting Minnesota, 
coal has been found in every state and territory west 
of the Mississippi. And not one is without iron. 
California has superior ores. The iron of Oregon is 
equal to the very best Swedish and Russian metal. 
Wyoming has immense deposits. The supply of 
Utah is enormous. It is found in some form in every 
county of Missouri. Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob 
are estimated to contain 500,000,000 tons of the finest 
ore. There are great masses of iron in Texas, proba- 
bly equal in quantity and quality to any deposits in 
the world. Lead is found in all the states and terri- 
tories of the West, except Minnesota, Nebraska, and the 
Indian Territory. In many of them the ores are rich and 
abundant. The lead-producing area in Missouri is 
over 5,000 square miles. The j^roduct of that state in 
1877 was over 63,000,000 pounds. Nebraska and Kan- 
sas alone are without copper. Rich ores and native 
metal abound in what seem inexhaustible quantities. 
The deposits of salt are without computation. Besides 
salt springs and lakes which ji^l^ great quantities, 
there are beds of unknown depth covering thousands 
of acres. Sulphur also is exceedingly abundant. In 

* Our Western Empire, p. 212. 



WESTEEN SUPREMACY. 2^ 

Idaho there is a mountain which is eighty-five per cent, 
pui'e sulphur. A deposit in Louisiana, equally pure, is 
112 feet thick. Nevada has borax enough to supply 
mankind. In Wyoming there are lakes in which the de- 
posits of sulphate of soda are from ten to fifteen feet 
in thickness, and almost chemically pure. Gypsum 
abounds. Texas has the largest deposits known in the 
world ; " enough to supply the universe for centuries." 
The Colorado River of Texas cuts its way thi'ough 
mountains of solid marble. In many parts of the 
Rocky Mountains there are the finest building stones, 
granite, sandstone and marble, of all possible colors 
and shades, without end. It would be tu-esome simply 
to enumerate the valuable minerals which swell the un- 
developed wealth of the West. If recent reports are 
correct, it is not denied even tin, the world's supply 
of which has hitherto been so limited. Inconsiderable 
deposits have been found in several states and terri- 
tories; but Prof. Bailey, United States Geologist for 
Montana, states that in the region of Harney's Peak, 
he has found tin-bearing rock that can be quarried 
from the surface, that there are veins measuring more 
than fifty feet in width which will average much better 
than those in Cornwall. He declares that there is 
enough to supply the world, and says that it is impossi- 
ble to imagine this great body of ore ever being 
exhausted. If these statements are correct, the 
discovery is one of the most important of the cen- 
tury. 

The unrivaled resources of the West together with 
the unequaled enterprise of her citizens are a sure 
prophecy of superior wealth. Already have some of 
these young states outstripped older sisters at the 
East, as is seen by the following statement of wealth 



28 WESTERN SUPREMACY. 

per caput according to the assessed valuation of prop- 
erty in 1880: 

In South Carolina $110 In Kansas $161 

" Illinois 255 " Minnesota 330 

" Vermont 259 " Colorado 331 

" Indiana 368 " Montana 475 

" New York 538 " California 6T4 

The West is destined to sui'pass in agriculture, stock- 
raising, mining, and eventually, in manufacturing. 
Already appears the superiority of her climate, which 
Montesquieu declares " is the most powerful of all em- 
pires, and gives guaranty alone of futui-e develop- 
ment." Every advantage seems to be hers save only 
greater proximity to Europe, and if the East com- 
mands European commerce, the Golden Gate opens 
upon Asia, and is yet to receive 

" the wealth of Ormus and of Ind," 

and send her argosies to all the ports of the broad 
Pacific. 

Beyond a peradventure, the West is to dominate the 
East. With more than twice the room and resources 
of the East, the West will have probably twice the 
population and wealth of the East, together with the 
superior power and influence which, under popular 
government accompany them. The West will elect the 
executive and control legislation. When the center of 
population crosses the Mississippi, the West will have 
a majority in the lower House, and sooner or later the 
partition of her great territories, and probably some 
of the states, will give to the West the control of the 
Senate. When Texas is as densely peopled as New 
England, it is hardly to be supposed her millions will 
be content to see the 62,000 square miles east of the 
Hudson send twelve senators to the seat of govern- 
ment, while her territory of 262,000 sendis only two. 



WE8TEEN SUPREMACY. 29 

The West will dii-ect the policy of the Government, 
and by vii'tue of her preponderating population and 
influence will determine oui" national character, and 
therefore, destiny. 

Since prehistoric times populations have moved 
steadily westward, as De Tocqueville said, "as if driv- 
en by the mighty hand of God." And following theii* 
migrations, the coui'se of empire, which Bishop Berke- 
ley sang, has westward taken its way. The world's 
scepter passed from Persia to Greece, from Greece to 
Italy, from Italy to Great Britain, and from Great 
Britain the scepter is to-day departing. It is passing 
on to " Greater Britain," to oui' mighty West, there to 
remain, for there is no further West ; beyond is the 
Orient. Like the star in the East which guided the 
thi'ee kings with theu' treasures westward until at 
length it stood still over the cradle of the young- 
Christ, so the star of empire, rising in the East, has 
ever beckoned the wealth and power of the nations 
westward, until to-day it stands still over the cradle of 
the young empii-e of the West, to which the nations 
ai'e bringing their offerings. 

The West is to-day an infant, but shall one day be a 
giant, in each of whose limbs shall unite the strength 
of many nations. 



30 PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PERILS IMMIGRATION. 

Political optimism is one of the vices of the Ameri- 
can people. There is a popular faith that " God takes 
care of children, fools, and the United States." We 
deem ourselves a chosen people, and incline to the be- 
lief that the Almighty stands pledged to our prosper- 
ity. Probably not one in a hundred of our population 
has ever questioned the security of our future. Such 
optimism is as senseless as pessimism is faithless. 
The one is as foolish as the other is wicked. 

Thoughtful men see perils on our national horizon. 
Let us glance at those only which peculiarly threaten 
the West. America, as the land of promise to all the 
world, is the destination of the most remarkable migra- 
tion of which we have any record. During the last 
four years we have suftered a peaceful invasion by an 
army more than twice as vast as the estimated number 
of Goths and Vandals that swept over Southern Eu- 
rope and overwhelmed Rome. During the ninety 
years preceding 1880, ten million foreigners made 
theu* homes in the United States, and three-quarters of 
them came during the last third of that period. Not 
only are they coming in great numbers, but in num- 
bers rapidly increasing. A study of the causes of this 
great world movement indicates that as yet we have 
seen only beginnings. Those controlling causes are 
three-fold. 1. The attracting influences of the United 
States. 2. The expellent influences of the Old World. 
3. Facilities for travel. 

1. The attracting influences of the United States. 
We have already seen that for every one inhabitant in 



iPERILS. IMMIGRATION. 31 

1860 the land is capable of sustaining twenty. This 
largeness of room and opportunity constitutes an 
ui'gent invitation to the crowded peoples of Europe. 
The prospect of proprietorship in the soil is a power- 
ful attraction to the European peasant. In England 
only one person in twenty is an owner of land ; in 
Scotland, one in twenty-five ; in Ireland, one in seven- 
ty-nine, and the great majority of land-holders in Great 
Britain own less than one acre each. More than 
three-fifths of the United Kingdom are in the hands of 
landlords, who own, each one, a thousand acres or 
more.* One man rides in a straight line a hundred 
miles on his own estate. Another owns a county ex- 
tending across Scotland. A gentleman in Scotland has 
recently appropriated three hundred square miles of 
land, extending from sea to sea, to a deer forest; 
evicting many families to make, room for the deer. 
What must free land mean to such a people ? 

This, moreover, is the land of plenty. The following 
table, t giving the average amount of food annually 
consumed per inhabitant, shows how much better the 
people of the United States are fed than any people of 
Europe. Potatoes are estimated as grain, at the rate 
of four bushels to one of wheat. 

Grain, Meat, Grain, Meat, 

bushels. pounds. bushels. pounds. 

France 24.02 81.88 Anstria 13.5T 56.03 

Germany 23. 71 84. 51 Sweden and Norway 12. 05 51. 10 

Belginm 22.84 57.10 Italy 9.62 20.80 

Great Britain 20.02 119.10 



Russia 17.97 54.05 Europe 17.66 57.50 

Spain 17.68 25.04 United States 40.66 120.00 

John Rae says that in Prussia, nearly one-half of the 
population have to live on an annual income of $105 to 

* Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. viii, p. 223. 

t Mulhall, Balance-sheet of the World, 1870—1880, p. 39. 



32 PERII,S. IMMIGRATION. 

a family. Is it strange that they look longingly toward 
the United States ? 

Immigration rises and falls with our prosperity. A 
financial crisis here operates at once as a check, but 
numbers increase again with the revival of business. 
We shall have, as heretofore, an occasional crash, fol- 
lowed by commercial depression, but it can hardly be 
questioned that the development of our wonderful re- 
sources will insure a high degree of material prosper- 
ity for many years to come. And the brightening 
blaze of our riches will attract increased immigration. 
Equal rights also and free schools are operative. We 
expend for education nearly six times as much, per 
caput, as Europe. Parents know that their children 
will have a better chance here, and come for their sake. 
These facts are becoming more widely known in other 
lands. Every foreigner who comes to us and wins suc- 
cess, as most of them do under more favorable conditions, 
becomes an advertiser of our land ; he strongly attracts 
his relatives and friends, and very likely sends them 
money for their passage. There is, therefore, a ten- 
dency in immigration to increase in geometric ratio. 

2. The expellent influences of Europe. Social or 
political upheavals send new waves of immigration to 
oui' shores. A glance at the situation shows that the 
prospect for the next fifteen or twenty years is not pa- 
cific. There is scarcely a first-class power in Europe 
on whose political horizon there are not clouds bigger 
than a man's hand. 

France. The French are fickle. Since the Revolu- 
tion no regime has continued for twenty consecutive 
years. The Eepublic is not yet fifteen years old, and 
the question may fairly be raised whether it can stand 
during the remaining five years or more which seem to 



PERILS IMMIGEATION. 33 

constitute the necessary political probation of a French 
government. And if the Republic becomes perma- 
nent, which now seems likely, it will operate as a con- 
stant thoi'n in the sides of European monarchies, by 
stirring up popular discontent. 

Germany. The Revolution of 1848 showed that the 
German people, always lovers of freedom, had grasped 
the principles of civil Hberty ; but it also showed that 
they had no practical knowledge of self-government. 
Diu-ing these thu'ty-seven years of increasing acquaint- 
ance with oui' fi'ee institutions, their love of Hberty 
has been growing, but in the science of self-govern- 
ment they have gained no experience. They are ruled 
by an Impeiiahst, and the German Chancellor is an 
old man. There is no one in training to take Bismarck's 
place, and in an important sense he can have no suc- 
cessor ; for, in consolidating the empire, he has done 
for Germany what, in the natui'e of the case, no other 
man can do. Germany, therefore, has tolerated from 
him what it will tolerate from no other man. '^ The 
existing regime will, doubtless, last his time ; and it is 
all the more likely to do so because everybody knoios it 
will not survive himy * Here, then, is a mighty peo- 
ple, liberty loving, having no practical knowledge of 
self-government, and he who rules them is an old man. 
It looks as if the death of the Emperor and that of the 
great Chancellor would be the signal for movements little 
short of revolutionai'y. German emigration for 1882 
was probably a quarter of a million. No wonder a 
member of the Reichstag recently cried : " The Ger- 
man people have now but one want — money enough to 
get to America"' ; and revolution in Germany means a 
still gi-eater exodus. 

• The Xation for April 3(J, 18G4. 



34 



PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 



Austria. Nihilism is active ; and a blow struck by 
Nihilists last year so terrified the Government that 
several provinces of the empire were placed under 
military rule. 

Italy. The Italians are worse fed than any other 
people in Europe, save the Portuguese. The tax-col- 
lector takes thirty-one per cent, of the people's earn- 
ings ! According to a newly issued report upon the 
crown-lands, upwards of 60,000 small proprietors have 
been evicted because unable to pay the taxes. And 
taxes are increasing. Notwithstanding the industrial 
advance made by Italy from 1870 to 1880, the national 
debt increased so much more rapidly that the nation 
was $200,000,000 poorer in 1880 than ten years before. 
Growing population and increasing taxation are al- 
ready resulting in increased emigration. Italy, pressed 
by want as severe as that of Ireland, may yet send a 
like flood upon us. 

Russia. The throne of the Czar stands on a volcano. 
Alexander III. seems fully committed to Imperialism, 
and the Bevolutionists are fully determined that the 
people shall assist in the work of government. They 
are wholly unrestrained by any religious scruples, and 
do not hesitate to sacrifice themselves as well as their 
enemies in the execution of their plans. " The Govern- 
ment may continue to arrest and hang as long as it 
likes, and may succeed in oppressing single revolution- 
ary bodies. . . . But this will not change the state 
of things. Revolutionists will be created by events ; by 
the general discontent of the whole of the people ; by the 
tendency of Russia toward new social forms. An entire 
nation cannot be suppressed." * The utterly lawless 

• Address of the " Executive Committee" to tUe Emperor, March 10th, 
1881. Underground Russia, p. 267. 



PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 35 

warfare of the Nihilists natui'ally prevents the Czar 
from making any concessions, while his arbitrary and 
oppressive acts deepen popular discontent. Apparent- 
ly, the repressive policy of the Government and popu- 
lar agitation will serve each to intensify the other, un- 
til there results a spasmodic convulsion throughout 
Kussia. And revolution in Russia means increased 
emigration. 

Great Britain. There is much popular discontent in 
the United Kingdom, which will increase as England 
loses her manufactiu^ng supremacy. The late Mr. 
Fawcett says* that local expenditure, if it increases 
during the next quarter of a century as duiing the 
last, will exceed that of the Imperial Government. In 
Liverpool, for example, rates in 1841 amounted to less 
than $2.00 per caput ; they now amount to more than 
$9.00 per caput. Local authorities now raise $200,- 
000,000 a year for local pui'poses, and have an annual 
deficit of $100,000,000, which is met by borrowing. 
Local indebtedness has increased from $165,000,000 in 
1867 to $600,000,000 in 1884. In 1880 the amount of 
mortgage on landed property in Great Britain and Ire- 
land was 58 per cent, of its full value. An English- 
man, writing on the coming revolution in England,! 
says you can scarcely find an educated Englishman, 
who, if his sober judgment is appealed to, will not tell 
you there is every likehhood that a complete social and 
poHtical reorganization will be attempted in those 
Islands before the close of the nineteenth century. 
Thomas Hughes says : " We may despise the present 
advocates of social democracy, and make light of their 
sayings and doings ; but there is no man who knows 

• Manual of Political Economy. 

t Xorth American Review, October, 1882. 



36 PERILS.— IMMIGRATION. 

what is really going on in England but will admit that 
there will have to be a serious reckoning with them at 
no distant day." There is but one Gladstone, and he 
is an old man. A writer in The British Quarterly* 
says : " The retirement of Mr. Gladstone will be the 
breaking up of the great deep in Eoglish politics." 
And social and political disturbances in Great Britain 
mean increased emigration. 

The progress of civilization is in the direction of 
popular government All kings and their armies can- 
not reverse the wheels of human progress. I think it 
was Victor Hugo, who, with prophetic ear, heard a 
European of some coming generation say: "Why, we 
once had kings over here!" All the races of Europe 
will one day enjoy the civil liberty which now seems 
the peculiar birthright of the Anglo-Saxon. De 
Tocqueville, whom Mr. Gladstone calls the Edmund 
Burke of his generation, said he regarded the progress 
of democratic principles in government as a providential 
fact, the result of a divine decree. Matthew Arnold, 
after his recent visit to America, speaking of the repub. 
lican form of government, said : " It is the only event- 
ual form of government for all people." Great revolu- 
tions, then, are to take place in Europe, why not within 
the next twenty-five years — some of them ? And judg- 
ing the future by the past, they will not be peaceful. 
The giant is blind and grinding in his prison house, 
howbeit his locks are growing, and we know not how" 
soon he may bow himself between the pillars of des- 
potism. 

In Continental Europe generally the best years of 
all able-bodied men are demanded for military duty. 
Germans must be seven years in the army, and give 

• April, 1883. 



PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 37 

three of them to active service ; the French, nine 
years in the army and five years in active service; 
Austrians, ten yeai's in the army and three in active 
service ; Kussians, fifteen years in the army and six in 
active service. When not in active service they are 
under certain restrictions. In addition to all this, 
when no longer members of the army, they are liable 
to be called on to do military duty for a period varying 
from two to five years. This robbery of a man's life 
will continue to be a powerful stimulus to emigration • 
and the "blood tax" which is required to support these 
millions of men during unproductive years is steadily 
increasing. While aggregate taxation decreased in the 
United States from 1870 to 1880, 9.15 per cent., it 
increased in Europe 28.01 per cent. The increase in 
Great Britain was 20.17 per cent. ; in France, 36.13 
per cent.; in Russia, 37.83 per cent.; in Sweden and 
Norway, 50.10 per cent.; in Germany, 57.81 per cent. 
And notwithstanding the burden of taxation is so 
heavy and so rapidly increasing, the public debts of 
Europe are making frightful growth. They have 
nearly doubled in fifteen years, and in 1880 were 
$22,265,000,000. The cost of government has risen 
fifty per cent, in ten years. If existing tendencies 
continue a quarter of a centuiy more, they must pre- 
cipitate a terrible financial catastrophe and perhaps a 
great social crisis. Moreover, the pressure of a dense 
population is increasing ; 22,225,000 souls having been 
added to the population of Europe dui'ing the ten 
years preceding 1880. Eui'ope could send us an un- 
ceasing stream of 2,000,000 emigrants a year for a 
century, and yet steadily increase her population. 

We find, therefore, the prospect of political commo- 
tions, the thumb-screw of taxation, given a frequent 



38 PEKILS. IMMIGRATION. 

turn, and a dense population becoming more crowded, 
all uniting their influence to swell European emigra- 
gration for years to come. 

3. Facilities of travel are increasing. From 1870 to 
1880, 39,857 miles of railway were built in Europe, 
only two thousand less than in the United States 
during the same period. Thus, interior populations 
are enabled more easily to reach the seaboard. Im- 
provements in steam navigation are making the ocean 
passage easier, quicker, and cheaper. In 1825 the 
cheapest passage from Europe to America was about 
$100. Now the rates from continental ports to New 
York are from $25 to $30, and from London $20. 
Steerage passage from Liverpool has been reduced to 
$8. There are great multitudes in Europe who look 
westward with longing eyes, but who do not come, 
only because they cannot gather the passage money 
and keep soul and body together. The reduction of 
rates, even a few dollars, makes America possible to 
added thousands. 

The threefold influences, therefore, which regulate 
immigration all co-operate to increase it and insure 
that for years to come this great "gulf stream of hu- 
manity" will flow on with a rising flood. 

Furthermore, labor-saving machinery has entered 
upon a campaign of world-wide conquest. This fact 
will render still more operative each of the three classes 
of influences enumerated above. Wherever man labors 
labor-saving machinery is destined ultimately to go ; 
and the people of the United States are to make most 
of it for the world. We have mountains of iron and 
inexhaustible measures of coal, together with a genius 
for invention. Already are we sending our machines 
over the civilized world. And what does this mean? 



PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 39 

Sending a machine to Europe that does the work of a 
hundred men, temporarily throws a hundred men out 
of employment. That machine is useful because it 
renders useless the skill or strength of a hundred men. 
They cannot easily, in a crowded population, adjust 
themselves to this new condition of things. The 
making of this machinery in the United States in- 
creases the demand for labor here, and its exportation 
decreases the demand for labor in the Old World. 
That means immigration to this country. We are to 
send our labor-saving machinery around the globe, 
and equivalents in bone and muscle are to be sent 
back to us. 

In view of the fact that Europe is able to send us 
nearly nine times as many immigrants during the next 
thirty years as during the thirty years past, without 
any diminution of her population, and in view of all 
the powerful influences co-operating to stimulate 
the movement, is it not reasonable to conclude that we 
have seen only the advance guard of the mighty army 
which is moving upon us? 

The Tenth Census gives our total foreign-born popu- 
lation as 6,679,943 ; but we must not forget their children 
of the first generation, who, as we shall see, present a 
more serious problem than their parents, the immi- 
gi-ants. This class numbers 8,316,053, making a total 
foreign population of nearly 15,000,000. In 1882 immi- 
gration nearly touched 800,000. In view of the consid- 
erations already given, this would not be deemed a high 
average for the twenty years from 1880 to 1900. On 
that estimate, allowing a death rate of fifteen to one 
thousand (that of 1880) there will be in 1900 over 
19,000,000 persons of foreign birth in the United 
States. And if the proportion of foreign-born to 



40 PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 

native-born of foreign parentage continues the same, 
our foreign population in 1900 will be 43,000,000. So 
immense a foreign element must have a profound in- 
fluence on our national life and character. Immi- 
gration brings unquestioned benefits, but these do not 
concern our argument. It complicates almost every 
home missionary problem and furnishes the soil which 
feeds the life of several of the most noxious growths 
of our civilization. I have, therefore, dwelt at some 
length upon its future that we may the more accurately 
measure the dangers which threaten us. 

Consider briefly the moral and political influence of 
immigration. 1. Influence on morals. Let me hasten 
to recognize the high worth of many of our citizens 
of foreign birth, not a few of whom are eminent in the 
pulpit and in all the learned professions. Many come 
to us in full sympathy with our free institutions, and 
desiring to aid us in promoting a Christian civilization. 
But no one knows better than these same intelligent 
and Christian foreigners that they do not represent 
the mass of immigrants. The typical immigrant is 
a European peasant, whose horizon has been narrow, 
whose moral and religious training has been meager 
or false, and whose ideas of life are low. Not a few be- 
long to the pauper and criminal classes. "From a 
late report of the Howard Society of London, it ap- 
pears that 'seventy-four per cent, of the Irish dis- 
charged convicts have found their way to the United 
States.'"* Moreover, immigration is demoralizing. 
No man is held upright simply by the strength of his 
own roots ; his branches interlock with those of other 
men, and thus society is formed, with all its lav/s and 
customs and force of public opinion. Few men ap- 

• Dorchester's Problem of Religious Progress, p. 423. 



PERlLa. tMMIGRATION. 41 

predate the extent to which they are indebted to their 
surroundings for the strength with which they resist, 
or do, or suffer. All this strength the emigrant leaves 
behind him. He is isolated in a strange land, perhaps 
doubly so by reason of a strange speech. He is trans- 
planted from a forest to an open prairie, where, before 
he is rooted, he is smitten with the blasts of temptation. 
"We have a good deal of piety in our churches that 
will not bear transportation. It cannot endui^e even 
the slight change of climate involved in spending a 
few summer weeks at a watering place, and is com- 
monly left at home. American travelers in Eui'ope 
often grant themselves license, on which, if at home? 
they would frown. Very many church-members, when 
they go west, seem to thrak they have left their Chris- 
tian obHgations with their church-membership in the 
East. And a considerable element of our American- 
born population are appai'ently under the impression 
that the Ten Commandments are not binding west of 
the Missoin'i. Is it strange, then, that those who 
come from other lands, whose old associations are all 
broken and whose reputations are left behind, should 
sink to a lower moral level ? Across the sea they suf- 
fered many restraints which are here removed. Better 
wages afford larger means of self-indulgence ; often the 
back is not strong enough to bear prosperity, and 
liberty too often lapses into hcense. Our population 
of foreign extraction is sadly conspicuous in our 
crimiual records. This element constituted in 1870 
twenty per cant, of the j)opulation of New England, 
and furnished seventy-five per cent, of the crime. 
That is, it was tvrelve times as much disposed to crime 
as the native stock. The hoodlums and roughs of our 
cities are, most of them, American-born of foreign 



42 PERILS.— IMMIGKATION. 

parentage. Of the 680 dischai'ged convicts who ap- 
plied to the Prison Association of New York for aid, 
during the year ending June 30th, 1882, 442 were 
born in the United States, against 238 foreign-born ; 
while only 144 reported native parentage against 536 
who reported foreign parentage. 

The Ehode Island Work-house and House of Cor- 
rection had received, to December 31st, 1882, 6,202 
persons on commitment. Of this number, fifty- tw^o 
per cent, were native-born and seventy-six per cent, 
were born of foreign parentage.* While in 1880 the 
foreign-born were only thirteen per cent, of the entire 
population, they furnish nineteen per cent, of the con- 
victs in our penitentiaries, and forty-three per cent, of 
the inmates of work-houses and houses of correc- 
tion. And it must be borne in mind that a very large 
proportion of the native-born prisoners were of for- 
eign parentage. 

Moreover, immigration not only furnishes the greater 
portion of our criminals, it is also seriously affecting 
the morals of the native population. It is disease and 
not health which is contagious. Most foreigners bring 
with them continental ideas of the Sabbath, and the 
result is sadly manifest in all our cities, where it is be- 
ing transformed from a holy day into a holiday. But 
by far the most effective instrumentality for debauch- 
ing popular morals is the liquor traffic, and this is 
chiefly carried on by foreigners. In 1880, of the 
" Traders and dealers in liquors and wines, "f (I sup- 
pose this means wholesale dealers) sixty-three per cent- 
were foreign-born, and of the brewers and maltsters 
seventy-five per cent., while a large proportion of the 

*For additional statistics on tliis pointj see North American Review, Janu> 
ary, 1884. . t The Tenth Census. 



PERILS. IMMIGRATIOK. 43 

remainder were of foreign parentage. Of saloon- 
keepers about sixty per cent, were foreign -born, while 
many of the remaining forty per cent, of these cor- 
rupters of youth, these western Arabs, whose hand is 
against every man, were of foreign extraction. 

2. "We can only glance at the political aspects of im- 
migration. As we have already seen, it is immigration 
w^hich has fed fat the liquor power; and there is a 
liquor vote. . Immigration furnishes most of the vic- 
tims of Mormonism ; and there is a Mormon vote. Im- 
migration is the strength of the Catholic church ; and 
there is a Catholic vote. Immigration is the mother 
and nirrse of American socialism ; and there is to be a 
socialist vote. Immigration tends strongly to the 
cities, and gives to them their political complexion. 
And there is no more serious menace to our civiliza- 
tion than our rabble-ruled cities. These several perils, 
all of which are enhanced by immigration, will be con- 
sidered in succeeding chapters. 

Many American citizens are not Americanized. It 
is as unfortunate as it is natural, that foreigners in this 
country should cherish their own language and pecul- 
iar customs, and carry their nationality, as a distinct 
factor, into our politics. Immigration has created the 
" German vote " and the " Irish vote," for which politi- 
cians bid, and which have already been decisive of state 
elections, and might easily determine national. A mass 
of men but little acquainted with our institutions, who 
will act in concert and who are controlled largely by 
their appetites and prejudices, constitute a very para- 
dise for demagogues. 

We have seen that immigration is detrimental to 
popular morals. It has a like influence upon popular 
intelligence, for the percentage of illiteracy among 



44 PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 

the foreign-born population is thirty-eight per cent, 
greater than among the native-born whites. Thus 
immigration complicates our moral and political prob- 
lems by swelling our dangerous classes. And as immi- 
gration is to increase much more rapidly than the 
population, we may infer that the dangerous classes 
are to increase more rapidly than hitherto.* It goes 
without saying, that there is a dead-line of ignorance 
and vice in every republic, and when it is touched by 
the average citizen, free institutions perish ; for intelli- 
gence and virtue are as essential to the life of a re- 
public as are brain and heart to the life of a man. 

A severe strain upon a bridge may be borne with 
safety if evenly distributed, which, if concentrated, 
would ruin the whole structure. There is among 
our population of alien birth an unhappy tendency 
toward aggregation, which concentrates the strain 
upon portions of oiu' social and political fabric. Cer- 
tain quarters of many of the cities are, in language, 
customs and costumes, essentially foreign. Many 
colonies have bought up lands and so set themselves 
apart from Americanizing influences. In 1845, New 
Glarus, in southern Wisconsin, was settled by a colony 
of 108 persons from one of the cantons of Switzer- 
land. In 1880 they numbered 1,060 souls; and "No Yan- 
kee lives within a ring of six miles round the first 
built dug-out." This Helvetian settlement, founded 
three years before "Wisconsin became a state, has pre- 
served its race, its language, its worship, and its cus- 
toms in their integrity. Similar colonies are now be- 
ing planted in the West. In some cases 100,000 or 
200,000 acres in one block, have been purchased by 

* From 18T0 to 1880 the population increased 30.06 per cent. During the 
same period the number of criminals increased 82.33 per cent. 



PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 45 

foreigners of one nationality and religion ; thns build- 
ing up states within a state, having different lan- 
guages, different antecedents, different religions, dif- 
ferent ideas and habits, preparing mutual jealousies, 
and perpetuating race antipathies. If our noble domain 
were ten-fold lai'ger than it is, it would still be too small 
to embrace with safety to ournational future, little Ger- 
manies here, little Scandinavias there, and little Ire- 
lands yonder. A strong centralized government, like 
that of Kome under the Caesars, can control heterogene- 
ous populations, but local self-government implies close 
relations between man and man, a measure of sympa- 
thy, and, to a certain extent, community of ideas. 
Our safety demands the assimilation of these strange 
populations, and the process of assimilation will be- 
come slower and more difficult as the proportion of 
foreigners increases. 

When we consider the influence of immigration, it 
is by no means reassui'ing to reflect that seventy-five 
per cent, of it is pouring into the formative "West. 
We have seen that in 1900 our foreign population, 
with theii* children of the first generation, will proba- 
bly number not less than 43,000,000. If the move- 
ment westward continues, as it probably will, until the 
free farming lands are all taken, 25,000,000 of that 
foreign element will be west of the Mississippi. And 
this will be two-thirds of all the population of the 
West, even if that population should increase 350 per 
cent, between 1880 and 1900. Already is the propor- 
tion of foreigners in the territories from two to three 
times greater than in the states east of the Mississippi. 
We may well ask — and with special reference to the 
West — whether this in-sweeping immigration is to for- 
eignize us, or we are to Americanize it. Mr- 



4:6 PERILS. EOMANlSM. 

Beecher hopefully says, when the lion eats an ox 
the ox becomes lion, not the lion ox. The illus- 
tration would be very neat if it only illustrated. The 
lion happily has an instinct controlled by an unfailing 
law which determines what, and when, and how much he 
shall eat. If that instinct should fail, and he should 
some day eat a badly diseased ox, or should very much 
over-eat, we might have on our hands a very sick lion. 
I can even conceive that under such conditions the ig- 
noble ox might slay the king of beasts. Foreigners 
are not coming to the "United States in answer to any 
appetite of ours, controlled by an unfailing moral or 
political instinct. They naturally consult their own 
interests in coming, not ours. The lion, without being 
consulted as to time, quantity or quality, is having 
the food thrust down his throat, and his only alterna- 
tive is, digest or die. 



CHAPTER V. 



PERILS. ROMANISM. 



The perils which threaten the nation and peculiarly 
menace the West demand, for then- adequate presenta- 
tation, much more space than the narrow limits of this 
work allow. We can touch only salient points. 



ROMANISM. 



There are many who are disposed to attribute any 
tear of Roman Catholicism in the United States to 



PElilLS. ROMANtSM. 47 

bigotry or childishness. Such see nothing in the char- 
acter and attitude of Komanism that is hostile to om^ 
free institutions, or find nothing portentous in its 
growth. Let us, then, first compare some of the funda- 
mental principles of our government with those of 
the Catholic church. 

The Constitution of the United States guarantees 
liberty of conscie7ice. Nothing is dearer or more fun- 
damental. ' Pope Pius IX. in his Encyclical Letter of 
Aug. 15th, 1854, said : " The absurd and erroneous 
doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience 
are a most pestilential eiTor — a pest, of all others, 
most to be dreaded in a state." The same Pope, in his 
Encyclical Letter of Dec. 8th, 1864, anathematized 
"Those who assert the liberty of conscience and of 
religious worship," also " All such as maintain that the 
church may not employ force." 

The pacific tone of Rome in the United States does 
not imply a change of heart. She is tolerant where 
she is helpless. Says Bishop O'Connor : " Rehgious 
liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be 
carried into effect without peril to the Catholic World." 
The Catholic Jieview says : " Protestantism, of every 
form, has not, and never can have, any right where 
Catholicity is triumphant." (A strange kind of catho- 
licity /) The Ai-chbishop of St. Louis once said : 
" Heresy and unbehef are crimes ; and in Christian 
countries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where 
all the people are Catholics, and where the Catholic r( - 
ligion is an essential part of the law of the land, they 
are punished as other crimes." In the same strain 
The Boston J^ilot : " No good government can exist 
without religion, and there can be no religion without 
an Inquisition, which is wisely designed for the pro- 



48 PEEILS. — ^ROMANISM. 

motion and protection of the true faith." The follow- 
ing is from The Rambler^ a Catholic paper of London : 
" Eeligious liberty, in the sense of a liberty possessed 
by every man to choose his religion, is one of the most 
wicked delusions ever foisted upon this age by the 
father of all deceit. The very name of liberty — except 
in the sense of a permission to do certain definite acts 
— ought to be banished from the domain of religion. 
It is neither more nor less than falsehood. No man 
has a right to choose his religion. None but an atheist 
can uphold the principles of religious liberty. Shall 
I foster that damnable doctrine, that Socianism, and 
Calvinism, and Anglicanism, and Judaism, are not 
every one of them mortal sins, like murder and adul- 
tery *? Shall I hold out hopes to my erring Protestant 
brother, that I will not meddle with his creed if he 
will not meddle with mine ? Shall I tempt him to for- 
get that he has no more right to his religious views than 
he has to my purse, to my house, or to my life blood? 
No, Catholicism is the most intolerant of creeds. It 
is intolerance itself; for it is the truth itself." The 
St. Louis Shepherd of the Yalley says : " The Catho- 
lic who says the church is not intolerant belies the 
Sacred Spouse of Christ." Every cardinal, archbishop 
and bishop in the Catholic church takes an oath of al- 
legiance to the Pope, in which occur the following 
words : " Heretics, schismatics, and rebels to our said 
Lord (the Pope), or his aforesaid successors, I will to 
my utmost persecute and oppose."* 

Another foundation stone of our free institutions is 
free speech and a free press. But in his Encyclical Let- 
ter of Dec. 8th, 1864, Pius IX. anathematized "All wno 
maintain the liberty of the press," and "all advocates 
•R. W. Thompson's The Papacy and the Civil Power, p. 717. 



PERILS. ROMANISM. 49 

of the liberty of speech." He calls it the " libei*ty of 
perdition." 

Again, free schools are one of the corner-stones of 
our Government. CathoHc opposition to our public- 
school system is general and well known. Says a 
Papal Encyclical : " XLV. — The Eomish church has 
a right to interfere in the discipline of the public 
schools, and in the arrangement of the studies of the 
pubUc schools, and in the choice of the teachers for 
these schools." 

"XLVn. — Public schools open to all children for 
the education of the young should be under the con- 
trol of the Komish chui'ch, and should not be subject 
to the ci\dl power, nor made to conform to the opinions 
of the age." 

Said the Vicar-General of Boston, in a pubhc lecture, 
Mai'ch 12th, 1879: "The attitude of the Catholic 
church toward the public schools of this country, as 
far as we can determine from papal documents, the 
decrees of the Council of Baltimore, and the pastor- 
als of the several bishops, is one of non-approval 
of the system itself, of censm-e of the manner of con- 
ducting them that prevails in most places, and of sol- 
emn admonition to pastors and parents to guard 
against the dangers to faith and morals arising from 
frequenting them."* The attitude of the Catholic 
church toward our schools is not simply one of "non- 
approval," but of decided hostility. Says the Cincin- 
nati CatholiG Telegraph : " It will be a glorious day 
for the Catholics in this country when, under the blows 

•In St. Mary's Parisli, Cambridgeport, Mass., for atteadiag a public school 
after Father Scully had commanded attendance at a parochial school 
a boy was stretched upon a table, and his back lashed till for two weeks 
the child could not lie down on account of his wounds. Fate of Kepub- 
lics, p. 286. 



50 PERILS. EOMANISM. 

of justice and morality, our school system will be shiv- 
ered to pieces." I do not forget that in the dark ages 
it was the Church of Eome which prevented the lamp 
of learning from going out utterly, or that the Jesuits, 
at a later period, were the most famous teachers in 
Europe. But Eome has never favored the education of 
the masses. In her relations to them she has adhered 
to her own proverb, " Ignorance is the mother of de- 
votion." In Protestant countries like Germany and 
the United States, where there is a strong sentiment 
in favor of popular education, she has been compelled 
in self-defense to open schools of her own. But her 
real attitude toward the education of the masses 
should be inferred from her course in those countries 
where she has, or has had, undisputed sway ; and there 
she has kept the people in besotted ignorance. In- 
stance her own Italy, where seventy-three per cent, of 
the population are illiterate, or Spain, where we find 
eighty per cent., or Mexico, where ninety- three per cent, 
belong to this class. 

Again, our Constitution requires obedience to the laws 
of the United States and loyalty to the Government. 
The Pope also demands of every subject obedience and 
loyalty to himself. In an Encyclical he says ; 

" XIX. — The Bomish church has a right to exercise 
its authority without any limits set to it by the civil 
power." 

" XXVII. — The Pope and the priests ought to have 
dominion over the temporal affairs." 

"XXX. — The Bomish church and her ecclesiastics 
have a right to immunity from civil law." 

" XLII. — ^In case of conflict between the ecclesiasti- 
cal and civil powers, the ecclesiastical powers ought to 
prevail," 



PEETLS. ^ROMANISM. 51 

In the oath of allegiance, akeady refeiTed to, taken 
by all whom the Pope elevates to positions of official 
dignity the candidate sweai'S he will " humbly receive 
and dihgently execute the apostolic command," and 
that he will "endeavor to preserve, defend, increase, 
and advance, the authority of the Pope." " The creed of 
Pope Pius IV. is put for subscription before every priest 
and every bishop. Every convert to Romanism must 
signify his aCssent to it. One of its sections reads, ' I 
do give allegiance to the bishop of Rome ' ; and the 
sense is, 'I do give pohtical as well as rehgious alle- 
giance.'"* The two greatest hving statesmen hold 
that the allegiance demanded by the Pope is inconsist- 
ent with good citizenship. Mr. Gladstone says: 
"... the Pope demands for himself the right to 
determine the province of his own rights, and has so 
defined it in formal documents as to warrant any and 
every invasion of the civil sphere ; and that this new 
version of the principles of the Papal church inexora- 
bly binds its members to the admission of these exor- 
bitant claims, without any refuge or reservation on be- 
half of their duty to the Crown."t He also says : "Rome 
requires a convert, who joins her, to forfeit his moral 
and mental freedom, and to place his loyalty and civil 
duty at the mercy of another." Prince Bismarck, in a 
speech delivered April 16th, 1875, said : " . . this 
Pope, this foreigner, this ItaUan, is more powerful in 
this countiy than any one person, not excepting even 
the King. And now please to consider what this for- 
eigner has announced as the programme by which he 
rules in Prussia as elsewhere. He begins by aiTogating 
to himself the right to define how far his authority ex- 
tends. And this Pope, who would use fii'e and sword 

•Joseph Cook, Marriage, p. 12. tTUe Vatican Decrees, p. 45, 



52 PERILS. ROMANISM. 

against us if he had the power to do so, who would 
confiscate our property and not spare our lives, expects 
us to allow him full, uncontrolled sway in our midst." 
Hon. B. W. Thompson, late Secretary of the Navy, 
says: "He who accepts Papal infallibility, and with 
it the ultramontane interpretation of the power of the 
Pope over the world, and thinks that by offending the 
Pope he offends God, will obey, passively, unresisting- 
ly, uninquiringly. Such a man, whether priest or 
layman, high or low, is necessarily inimical to the gov- 
ernment and political institutions of the United States ; 
with him, his oath of allegiance is worth no more than 
the paper upon which it is written." 

At a meeting in Glasgow, Oct. 5th, 1875, Dr. J. P. 
Thompson introduced the following resolution: " That, 
in the judgment of this Meeting, the Papacy, as ex- 
emplified in the Yatican Decrees, is the most perfected 
of all existing forms of tyranny, inasmuch as it aims at 
placing in the hands of a single irresponsible man the 
conscience of individuals, the civil government of 
nations, and the supreme control of the spiritual affairs 
and temporal interests of the world." To show that 
this construction of the Pope's demands and assump- 
tions is not unfair, j)ermit me to quote some high Cath- 
olic authorities. Bishop Gilmour in his Lenten Letter, 
March, 1873, said: "Nationalities must be subordi- 
nate to religion, and we must learn that we are Catho- 
lics first and citizens next. God is above man, and the 
church above the state." Cardinal McCloskey says: 
''They (the Catholics of the United States) are as 
strongly devoted to the sustenance and maintenance 
of the temporal power of the Holy Father as Catholics 
in any part of the world ; and if it should be necessary 
to prove it by acts, they are ready to do so." In a ser- 



PERILS. ROMANISM. 53 

mon, preached when he was Archbishop, Cardinal 
Manning put the following sentences in the mouth of 
the Pope : " I acknowledge no civil power ; I am the 
subject of no prince ; and I claim more than this. I 
claim to be the supreme judge and director of the con- 
sciences of men; of the peasant that tills the fields, 
and of the prince that sits upon the throne ; of the 
household that hves in the shade of privacy, and the 
legislator that makes laws for kingdoms ; I am the 
sole, last, supreme judge of what is right and wrong." 
He also says : " Moreover, we declare, affirm, define, 
and pronoiTQce it to be necessary to salvation for every 
human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff." 
Of the utter degradation of reason, and the stifling of 
conscience the teaching of Cardinal Bellarmine affords 
a good example : "If the Pope should err by enjoin- 
ing vices or forbidding virtues, the Church would he 
obliged to believe vices to be good and virtues bad, un- 
less it would sin against conscience."* 

Manifestly there is an irreconcilable difference be- 
tween papal piinciples and the fundamental principles 
of our free institutions. Popular government is self- 
government. A nation is capable of self-government 
only so far as the individuals who compose it are 
capable of self-government. To place one's con- 
science, therefore, in the keeping of another, and to 
disavow all personal responsibility in obeying the 
dictation of another, is as far as possible from self- 
control, and, therefore, wholly inconsistent with repub= 
lican institutions, and, if common, dangerous to their 
stability. It is the theory of absolutism in the state, 
that man exists for the state. It is the theory of 

•Dr. Littledale'8 " Plain Reasons Against Joining the Church of Rome," 
page ]W. 



54 PERILS. EOMANISM. 

absolutism in the chuich, that man exists for the 
church. But in republican and Protestant America 
it is believed that church and state exist for man 
and are to be administered by him. Our fundamental 
ideas of society, therefore, are as radically opposed to 
Vaticanism as to Imperialism. And it is as inconsistent 
with our Uberties for American citizens to yield allegi- 
ance to the Pope as to the Czar. 

Second. Our brief examination of the underlying 
principles of Komanism almost renders superfluous any 
consideration of its attitude toward our free institu- 
tions. If alive, it must necessarily be aggressive ; and 
it is ahve. Cardinal Manning advises Romanists 
throughout the world to enter politics as Jiomanists, 
and to do this especially in England and the United 
States. In our large cities the priests are already in 
politics, and to some purpose. The authorities of New 
York city, during the eleven years preceding 1880 gave 
to the Roman church real estate valued at $3,500,000, 
and money to the amount of $5,827,471 ; this in ex- 
change for Romish votes, and every cent of it paid in 
violation of law. This suggests, in passing, that the 
Catholic church is storing up power by amassing im- 
mense wealth. Father Hecker says that the aggregate 
wealth of the Roman church in the United States in- 
creased from nine millions in 1850 to twenty-six mil- 
lions in 1860, and to sixty millions in 1870. 

Here are some predictions : " There is ere long to 
be a State religion in this country, and that State re- 
ligion is to be Roman Catholic." — Father Hecker, 
1870. " The man to-day is living who will see a ma- 
jority of the people of the American continent Roman 
Catholics." — Boston Pilot. "Effectual plans are in 
operation to give us the complete victory over Protest- 



fEKILS. KOMANISM. 55 

antism." — A former Bishop of Cincinnati. " Within 
thirty yeai'S, the Protestant heresy will come to an 
end." — Bishop of Charleston. These utterances are 
quite worthless as prophecies, but are valuable as con- 
fessions. They indicate unmistakably the attitude of 
Romanism in the United States. There sui-ely can be 
no question on that point since the open declaration of 
the Pope that "America is the hope of Rome.'' Half 
a centmy ago, Gregory XVI., who held that "the sal- 
vation of the chui'ch would come from America," said : 
'• Out of the Roman States there is no country where I 
am Pope, except the United States." 

Thu'd. Many who are well acquainted with the true 
character of Romanism are indifferent to it, because not 
awai'e of the rapid growth of the Catholic church in 
the United States. They tell us, and truly, that Rome 
loses great numbers of adherents here through the in- 
fluence of our free schools, free institutions, and the 
strong pervasive spii'it of independence which is so 
hostile to priestly authority. But let us not congratu- 
late ourselves too soon. The losses of Romanism in 
the United States are not, to any extent, the gains of 
Protestantism. When a man, born in the Catholic 
church, loses confidence in the only faith of which he 
has any knowledge, he does not examine Protestantism, 
but sinks into skepticism. Romanism is chiefly re- 
sponsible for German and French infidelity. For, 
when a mind to which thought and free inquiiy have 
been forbidden as a crime attains its intellectual ma- 
jority, the largeness of liberty is not enough; it reacts 
into license and excess. Skepticism and mfidelity are 
the legitimate children of unreasoning and superstitious 
credulity, and the grandchildren of Rome. Apostate 
Catholics are swelling our most dangerous classes. 



56 



PERILS. ^ROMANISM. 



Unaccustomed to think for themselves, and having 
thrown off authority, they become the easy victims of 
socialists or nihilists, or any other vidld and dangerous 
propagandists. 

But, notwithstanding the great losses thus sustained 
by Romanism in the United States, it is growing with 
great rapidity. In 1800 the Catholic population was 
100,000. In 1884, according to official statistics, it was 
6,628,176. At the beginning of the century there was 
one Catholic to every 53 of the whole population ; in 
1850, one to 14.3 ; in 1870, one to 8.3 ; in 1880, one to 
7.7. Thus it appears that, wonderful as the growth of 
our population has been since 1800, the growth of the 
Catholic church has been much more rapid. Dr. Dor- 
chester, in his valuable and inspiring work, Problem of 
Religious Progress, easily shows that the actual gains 
of Protestantism in the United States, during the cen- 
tury, have been much larger than those of Catholicism, 
and seems disposed, in consequence, to dismiss all 
anxiety as to the issue of the race between them. But 
it is the relative rather than the actual gains which are 
prophetic. From 1800 to 1880 the population in- 
creased nine-fold, the membership of all evangelical 
churches twenty-seven-fold, and the Catholic popula- 
tion sixty-three-fold. Not much importance, however, 
should be attached to this comparison, as the Catholic 
population was insignificant in 1800, and a small ad- 
dition sufficed to increase it several-fold. But in 1850 
the Catholic church was nearly one-half as large as all 
evangelical Protestant churches. Let up, then, look 
at their relative progress since that time. From 1850 
to 1880 the population increased 116 per cent., the 
communicants of evangelical churches 185 per cent., 
and the Catholic population 294 per cent. From 1850 



PERILS. ROMANISM. 57 

to 1880 the number of evaugelical churclies increased 
125 per cent.; duiing the same period Catholic chui'ches 
increased 447 per cent. From 1870 to 1880 the 
churches of all evangelical denominations increased 
49 per cent., while Catholic churches multiplied 74 per 
cent. From 1870 to 1880 the ministers of evangelical 
churches increased in number 46 per cent., Catholic 
priests 61 per cent. From 1850 to 1870, ministers in- 
creased 86 'per cent., priests 204 per cent. From 1850 
to 1880, ministers increased 173 per cent., and priests 
391 per cent. In 1850 the Catholic population was 
equal to 45 per cent, of the evangehcal church-member- 
ship, in 1870 it was equal to 68 per cent., and in 1880 
it equaled 63 per cent., a slight relative loss. During 
the ten years Romanism gained largely on Protestant- 
ism in the number of churches and ministers ; but lost 
slightly in the number of communicants ; a loss due to 
the falling off of immigration during the last half of 
the period. Examination shows that the growth of 
the Catholic church corresponds closely with that of 
the foreign population, but is somewhat more rapid. 
Since 1880 there has been a marked increase in the 
Catholic population. The average annual growth of 
the latter from 1870 to 1880 was 176,733, while fron 
1883 to 1884 it was 231,322. 

It has been shown that during the remainder of the 
century or longer, the rate of immigration will un- 
doubtedly increase. The ratio of growth of the Cath- 
olic church will, therefore, increase, and it will con- 
tinue to make a rapid gain on the Protestant denomina- 
tions. But this is not all. Rome, with characteiistic 
foresight, is concentrating her strength in the western 
territories. As the West is to dominate the nation, she 
intends to dominate the West. In the United States a 



58 PERILS. SOMANISM. 

little less than one-eighth of the population is Catho- 
lic; in the territories taken together, more than one- 
third. In the whole country there are not quite two- 
thirds as many Catholics as there are members of 
evangelical churches. Not including Ai'izona and New 
Mexico, which have a large native Catholic population, 
the six remaining territories had in 1880 four times as 
many Komanists as there were members in all Protes- 
tant denominations collectively ; and, including Arizona 
. and New Mexico, Rome had eighteen times as many as 
all Protestant bodies. We are told that the native 
Catholics of Arizona and New Mexico ai-e not as ener- 
getic as the Protestants who are pushing into those 
territories. True, but they are energetie enough to he 
counted. The most wretched members of society count 
as much at the polls as the best, and too often 'much 
more. It is poor consolation which is draAvn from the 
ignorance of any portion of our population. Those de- 
graded peoples are clay in the hands of the Jesuits. 
When the Jesuits were driven out of Berlin, they de- 
clared that they would plant themselves ia the western 
territories of America. And they are there to-day with 
empires in their brains. Expelled for their intrigues 
even from Catholic countries, Spain, Portugal, Italy, 
Mexico, Brazil, and other states, they are free to colon- 
ize in the great West, and are there gathering and 
plotting to Romanize and control our western empire. 
Rev. J. H. Warren, D.D., writes from California, in 
which state there are four times as many Romanists as 
Protestant chui'ch-members : " The Roman Catholic 
power is fast becoming an overwhelming evil. Theii* 
schools are everywhere, and number probably 200 in the 
state. Their new college of St. Ignatius is, we are 
told, the largest, finest, best equipped of its kind iu the 



PERILS. M0EM0NI8M- 59 

United states. They blow no trumpets, are sparing 
with statistics, but are at work night and day to break 
down the institutions of the country, beginning with the 
public schools. As surely as we Hve, so sui-ely will the 
conflict come, and it will be a hard one."* 

Lafayette, himself a Komanist, was not wholly blind 
when he said : " If the Hberties of the American peo- 
ple are ever destroyed, they will fall by the hands of 
the Romish clergy." 



CHAPTER VL 



PERILS. MORMON ISM. 



The people of the United States are more sensible 
of the disgrace of Mormonism than of its danger. 
The civihzed world wonders that such a hideous cari- 
cature of the Chiistian rehgion should have appeared 
in this most enlightened land ; that such an anachi'o- 
nism should have been produced by the most progress- 
ive civilization; that the people who most honor 
womankind should be the ones to inflict on her this 
deep humiliation and outrageous wrong. Polygamy, 
as the most striking feature of the Mormon monster, 
attracts the public eye. It is this which at the same 
time arouses interest and indignation; and it is be- 
cause of this that Eui'ope points at us the finger of 
shame. Polygamy is the issue between the Mormons 

* Sermon of Eev. E. P. Goodwin, D.D., before the American Home Mis- 
sionary Society, May 9tli, 1880. 



60 PERILS. ^MORMONISM. 

and the United States government. It is this which 
prevents Utah's being admitted as a state. It is this 
against which congress has legislated. And yet, 
polygamy is not an essential part of Mormonism; it 
was an after-thought ; not a root, but a graft. There 
is a large and growing sect of the Mormons,* not lo- 
cated in Utah, which would excommunicate a member 
for practicing it. ^Nor is polygamy a very large part 
of Mormonism. Not more than one man in ten prac- 
tices it. Moreover, it can never become general among 
the " saints," for nature has legislated on that point, 
and her laws admit of no evasions. In Utah, as else- 
where, there are more males born than females ; and, 
in the membership of the Mormon church, there are 
some 6,000 more men than women. 

Polygamy might be utterly destroyed, without seri- 
ously weakening Mormonism. It serves to strengthen 
the system somewhat by thoroughly entangling its vic- 
tim in the Mormon net ; for a polygamist is not apt to 
apostatize. He has multiplied his "hostages to for- 
tune"; he cannot abandon helpless wives and children 
as easily as he might turn away from pernicious doc- 
trines. Moreover, he has arrayed himself against the 
government with law-breakers. Franklin's saying to 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence is ap- 
propriately put into the mouths of this class: "If we 
don't hang together, we shall all hang separately." 
Still, it may be questioned whether polygamy adds 
more of strength or weakness; for its evil results 
doubtless often lead the children of such marriages, and 
many others, to question the faith, and finally abandon 
it. 

* The Josephites, scattered through the United States, are law-abiding 
citizens, deluded, but inoffensive. 



PERILS. MORMONISM. 61 

What, then, is the real strength of Mormonism ? It 
is ecclesiastical despotism which holds it together, 
unifies it, and makes it strong. The Mormon church 
is probably the most complete organization in the 
world. To look after a Mormon poj^ulation of 138,000, 
there are 28,838 officials, or more than one to every five 
persons. And, so highly centralized is the power, that 
all of these threads of authority are gathered into one 
hand, that of President Taylor. The priesthood, of 
which he is the head, claim the right to control in all 
things religious, social, industrial and political. Brig- 
ham Young asserted his right to manage in every par- 
ticular, " from the setting up of a stocking to the rib- 
bons on a woman's bonnet." Here is a claim to abso- 
lute and universal rule, which is cheerfully conceded by 
every orthodox " saint." Mormonism, therefore, is not 
simply a church, but a state ; an " iniperiimi in im- 
perio''' ruled by a man who is prophet, priest, king and 
pope, all in one — a pope, too, who is not one whit less 
infallible than he who wears the tiara. And, as one 
would naturally expect of an American pope, and 
especially of an enterprising western pope, he out- 
popes the Roman by holding familiar conversation 
with the Almighty, and getting, to order, new revela- 
tions direct from heaven; and, another advantage 
which is more material, he keeps a firm hold of his 
temporal power. Indeed, it looks as if the spii'itual 
were being subordinated to the temporal. Rev. W. 
M. Barrows, D.D., after a residence at the Mormon 
capital of nearly eight years, said :* " There is no 
doubt that it is becoming less and less a religious 
power, and more and more a political power. The 



• Address at the Home Missionary Anniversary, in Chicago, June 8th, 1881. 



6*2 PEBILS. MOEMONISM. 

first Mormon preachers were ignorant fanatics ; but 
most of them were honest, and then* words carried a 
weight that sincerity always carries, even in a bad 
cause. The preachers now have the ravings of the 
Sibyl, but lack the inspiration. Their talk sounds 
hollow ; the ring of sincerity is gone. But theii* eyes 
are dazzled now with the vision of an earthly empu'e. 
They have gone back to the old Jewish idea of a tem- 
poral kingdom, and they are endeavoring to set up 
such a kingdom in the valleys of Utah and Idaho and 
Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, Ari- 
zona and Nevada." 

If there be any doubt as to the designs of the Mor- 
mons, let the testimony of Bishop Lunt be conclusive 
on that point. He said, a few years ago: "Like a 
grain of mustard- seed was the truth planted in Zion; 
and it is destined to spread through all the world. 
Our church has been organized only fifty years, and yet 
behold its wealth and power. This is oui' year of jubi- 
lee. We look forward with perfect confidence to the 
day when we will hold the reins of the United States 
government. That is our present temporal aim ; after 
that, w^e expect to control the continent." ^Vhen told 
that such a scheme seemed rather visionary, in view of 
the fact that Utah cannot gain recognition as a state, 
the Bishop replied : " Do not be deceived ; we are 
looking after that. We do not care for these terri- 
torial officials sent out to govern us. They are no- 
bodies here. We do not recognize them, neither do 
we fear any practical interference by congress. We 
intend to have Utah recognized as a state. To-day 
we hold the balance of political power in Idaho, we 
rule Utah absolutely, and in a very short time we will 
hold the balance of power in Arizona and Wyoming. 



PERILS, MORMONISM. 63 

A few months ago, •President Snow, of St. George, set 
out with a band of priests, for an extensive tour 
through Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, 
Idaho and Arizona, to proselyte. We also expect to 
send missionaries to some pai'ts of Nevada, and we de- 
sign to plant colonies in Washington Territory. 

" In the past six months we have sent more than 
3,000 of our people down thi'ough the Sevier valley to 
settle in Arizona, and the movement still progresses. 
All this will build up for us a political power, which 
will, in time, compel the homage of the demagogues of 
the country. Our vote is solid, and will remain so. 
It will be thi'own where the most good will be accom- 
plished for the church. Then, in some great political 
crisis, the two present political parties will bid for our 
support. Utah will then be admitted as a polygamous 
state, and the other territories we have peacefully 
subjugated will be admitted also. W"e will then hold 
the balance of power, and will dictate to the country. 
In time, oui' principles, which are of sacred origin, will 
spread throughout the United States. We possess the 
ability to tiu-n the political scale in any pai'ticular com 
munity we desii-e. Om- people are obedient. ^Tien 
they are called by the church, they promptly obey. 
They sell their houses, lands and stock, and remove to 
any part of the country the chui"ch may dii-ect them to. 
You can imagine the results which wisdom may bring 
about, with the assistance of a church organization 
like oui's.-" 

The astute bishop does not over-estimate the effect- 
iveness of the Mormon church as a colonizer. An 
order is issued by the authorities that a certain dis- 
trict shall furnish so many hundi-ed emigrants for Ari- 
zona or Idaho. The families are drafted, so many 



64 PERILS.— MORMONISM. 

from a ward ; and each ward or district equips its own 
quota with wagons, animals, provisions, implements, 
seed and the like. Thus the Mormon president can 
mass voters here or there about as easily as a general 
can move his troops. 

By means of this systematic colonization the Mor- 
mons have gained possession of vast tracts of land, 
and now " hold almost all the soil fit for agriculture 
from the Eocky Mountains to the fSierra Nevada, or an 
area not less than 500 miles by 700, making 350,000 
square miles";* that is, one-sixth of the entii*e acreage 
between the Mississippi and Alaska. In this extended 
region it is designed to plant a Mormon population 
sufficiently numerous to control it. With this in view, 
the church sends out from 200 to 400 missionaries a 
year, most of whom labor in Europe. They generally 
return after two years of service at their own charges. 
If any of the converts are too poor to reach " Zion" 
unaided, they are assisted by loans from the " Perpet- 
ual Emigration Fund," founded in 1849. The number 
of proselytes from the Old World is steadily increas- 
ing. During the first ten years after the founding of 
the emigration fund the annual average was 750, for 
the next decade it was 2,000, for the last five years the 
number has ranged from 2,500 to 3,000. The losses 
by apostasy j are many, but are more than covered by 

* Rev. D. L. Leonard, Home Missionary Superintendent for Utali, Idaho, 
Montana and West Wyoming. 

t We may learn ere long that there is as little occasion for congratulation 
over Mormon apostasy as over Roman Catholic. The Mormon, in his mental 
make-up, is a distinct type. There are men in every community who were 
born for the Mormon church. Let one of the missionaries of the " Saints" 
appear, and he attracts this class as naturally as a magnet attracts iron til- 
ings in a handful of sand. They are waiting to hear and believe some new 
thing ; they are driven about by every wind of doctrine ; they have prooably 
been members of several different religious denominations ; they are credu- 



PEEILS. MORMONISM. 65 

the number of converts, while the natural increase of 
the church by the growth of the family is exceedingly 
large. Furthermore, to the growing power of multi- 
plying numbers is added that of rapidly increasing 
wealth. The Mormons are industrious — a lazy man 
cannot enter their heaven — and the tithing of the in- 
crease adds constantly to the vast sums already 
gathered in the grasping hands of the hierarchy. The 
Mormon delegate to Congress, who carries a hundred 
thousand votes in one hand, and millions of corruption 
money in the other, will prove a dangerous man in 
Washington, unless poHticians grow strangely virtu- 
ous, and there are fewer itching palms twenty years 
hence. 

Bishop Lunt is not altogether alone in the anticipa- 
tions quoted above. Hon. Schuyler Colfax says:* 
'• With Utah overwhelmingly dominated by the Mor- 
mon Theocracy of their established church, and wield- 
ing, also, as they already claim, the balance of power 
in the adjoining territories, this Turkish barbarism 
may control the half-dozen new states of our Interior, 
and, by the power of their Senators and Representa- 
tives, in both branches of our Congress, may even dic- 
tate to the nation itself." Those best acquainted with 
Mormonism seem most sensible of the danger which it 
threatens. The pastors of churches and principals of 
schools in Salt Lake City, in an address to American 
citizens, say if "We recognize the fact that the so-called 

lous and superstitious, and are easily led in the direction of their inclina- 
tions ; they love reasoning, but hate reason ; they are capable of a blind de- 
votion, and strongly incline to fanaticism. In a word, they are cravky. A 
Church largely made up of such material will, of course, multiply apostates. 
The Mormon church is a machine which manufactures tinder for socialistic 
fire. 

* The Advance, Aug. 24th, 1882. 

t Hand-book of 3Iormonism, p. 94. 



66 PEEII.S. MORMONISM. 

Mormon Church, in its exercise of political power, is 
antagonistical to American institutions, and that there 
is an irrepressible conflict between Utah Mormonism and 
American republicanism; so much so that they can 
never abide together in harmony. We also believe 
that the growth of this anti-republican power is such 
that, if not checked speedily, it will cause serious 
trouble in the near future. We fear that the nature 
and extent of this danger are not fully comprehended 
by the nation at large." 

If the Mormon power had its seat in an established 
commonwealth like Ohio, such an ignorant and fanat- 
ical population, rapidly increasing, and under the abso- 
lute control of unscrupulous leaders, who openly 
avowed their hostility to the state, and lived in con- 
temptuous violation of its laws, would be a disturbing 
element which would certainly endanger the peace of 
society. Indeed, the Mormons, when much less pow- 
erful than they are to-day, could not be tolerated in 
Missouri or Illinois. And Mormonism is ten-fold more 
dangerous in the new West, where its power is greater, 
because the " Gentile" population is less ; where it has 
abundant room to expand ; where, in a new and unor- 
ganized society, its complete organization is the more 
easily master of the situation ; and where state consti- 
tutions and laws, yet unformed, and the institutions of 
society, yet plastic, are subject to its molding influ- 
ence. 

And what are we going to do about it ? Thus f ai", 
legislation against polygamy has accomplished but lit- 
tle. Each new law has been • " answered" by an in- 
creased number of polygamous marriages. Happily 
there have been some convictions of late; but it is 
always diflicult to convict criminals by a jury where 



PERILS. MORMONISM. 67 

public sentiment is against the law which has been vio- 
lated. Nevertheless, something can be done by legis- 
lation. Where the dignity of the law is held in con- 
tempt there must be found some way to make the arm 
of the law felt.* But we have seen that, if polygamy 
were entirely suppressed, it might not seriously cripple 
the power of Mormonism. Any bio w to be effective 
must be aipied at the priestly despotism. The power 
of the hierarchy is enhanced by the great wealth of 
the church. The sequestration of that wealth, there- 
fore, would, in some measui'e, disable the hierarchy. 
'' Senator Hoar proposes that a commission be ap- 
pointed to take over the property of the organization 
called the Mormon church, and to apply to the pur- 
poses of supporting common schools in this polyg- 
amous territory the funds which have been collected 
contrary to law, and in excess of authority, in the 
Mormon Endowment Houses."! The proposition was 
approved by the judiciary committee of the Senate. 
But the power of the priesthood existed before that 
wealth was accumulated. It was their power which 
made that accumulation possible. The proposed blow, 
therefore, though it might be helpful, would not go to 
the root of the matter. Belief in the divine inspira- 
tion, and hence infallibility of the priesthood, is the se- 
cret power of the system, and a veritable Pandora's 
box out of which may spring any possible delusion or 
excess. Said Heber C Kimball, formerly one of tho 
Apostles : " The word of our Leader and Prophet is the 
word of God to this people. We cannot see God. We 
cannot hold converse with him. But he has given us a 

* For some valuable suggestions on this point see " How Shall the Mor- 
mon QucjiTion be Settled?" From an adclress by Dr. Barrows at the Home 
Afissionary Anniversary, in Chicago, June 8th, 1S81. 

f .To3ep> CooTc, T,'^'--tnrp. '• Whnt Phall be Done with Morraonism?" 



68 PEEILS. MORMOKISM. 

man that we can talk to and thereby know his will, 
just as well as if God himself were present with us." 
Special "revelations" to the head of the church, even 
if directly contrary to the Scriptures, or the Book of 
Mormon, are absolutely binding. The latter says :* 
" AVheref ore I, the Lord God, will not sufier that this 
people do like unto them of old ; wherefore, my breth- 
ren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord. 
For there shall not any man among you have save it 
be one wife ; and concubines he shall have none." Yet 
a special " revelation" sufficed to establish polygamy. 
Mormon despotism, then, has its roots in the supersti- 
tion of the people ; and this Congress cannot legislate 
away. The people must be elevated and enlightened 
through the instrumentality of the Christian school 
and the preaching of the gospel. This work is being 
effectively done by the New West Education Commis- 
sion and the American Home Missionary Society. It 
is chiefly to such agencies that we must look to break 
the Mormon power. 



CHAPTER VII. 

PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 



To touch SO vast a subject, and only touch it, is diffi- 
cult. Let us consider briefly but two points — the dan- 
ger of intemperance as enhanced by the progress of 
civilization, and the Liquor Power. I. The progress 



Book of Jacob, Chap. II, verse 6. 



PERn.S. INTEMPEBANCE. 69 

of chdiization biings men into closer contact. The 
three great civilizing instrumentalities of the age, 
moral, mental and material, are Christianity, the press 
and steam, which respectively bring together men's 
hearts, minds and bodies into more intimate and mul- 
tipHed relations. Chiistianity is slowly binding the 
race into a brotherhood. The press transforms the 
earth into an audience room ; while the steam engine, 
so far as commerce is concerned, has annihilated, say, 
nine-tenths of space. 

Observe how this bringing of men into closer and 
multiphed relations has served to increase the excite- 
ments of life, to quicken our rate of hving. The Chris- 
tian religion is an excitant. In proportion as it leads 
men to recognize and accept their responsibility for 
others, it ai'ouses them to action in their behalf, under 
the stress of the most ui'gent motives. The press and 
telegraph, by bringing many minds into contact, have 
ministered marvelously to the activity of the popular 
intellect. Isolation tends to stagnation. Intercourse 
quickens thought, feeling, action. Steam has stimulat- 
ed human activity almost to a fuiy. By prodigiously 
lengthening the lever of human power, by bringing 
the country to the city, the inland cities to the sea- 
board, the seaports to each other, it has multiplied 
many-fold every form of intercourse. By establishing 
industries on an immense scale it has greatly compli- 
cated business ; while severe and increasing competi- 
tion demands closer study, a greater application of 
energy, a larger expenditure of mental power. 

Thus it would seem that these three great forces of 
civilization move along parallel lines, and co-operate in 
stimulating the nations to an activity ever more in- 
tense and exciting ; so that the progress of civilization 



70 PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

seems to involve an increasing strain on tlie nervous 
system. These influences will be better appreciated if 
we compare, for a moment, ancient and modern civiliza- 
tion. Look at life in Athens, Jerusalem or Babylon, 
when they were centers of civilization, as compared 
with Paris, London, or New York. The chief men of 
an Oriental city might be found sitting in the gate 
gossiping, or possibly philosophizing. Those of an Oc- 
cidental metropolis are deep in schemes of commerce, 
manufacture, politics or philanthropy, weaving plans 
whose threads reach out through all the land, and even 
to the ends of the earth. The Eastern merchant sits 
in his bazaar, as did his ancestor two or three thousand 
years ago, and chaffers with his customers by the horn- 
over a trifle. The "Western and modern business man 
is on his feet. The two attitudes are representative. 
Ancient civilization was sedentary and contemplative ; 
ours is active and practical. " Multum in parvo " is its 
maxim. Immense results brought about in a few days, 
or even minutes, hurry the mind through a wide range 
of experience, and compress, it may be, years into 
hours. I am not at all sure that Abraham Lincoln did 
not live longer than Methuselah. In point of experi- 
ence, results, acquisitions, enjoyment and sorrow — in 
all that makes up life, save the mere factor of time — I 
am not at all sure that the antediluvians were not the 
children, and the men of this generation the aged pa- 
triarchs. And life is fuller and more intense, activity 
is more eager and restless here in the United States 
than anywhere else in the world. We work more days 
in a year, more hours in a day,- and do more work in an 
hour than the most active people of Europe.* 

* These statements could be abundantly confirmed, but it is presumed 
they will not be doubted. The point -will be further developed in a later 
chapter. 



PEEILS. INTEMPEBANCE. 71 

If we were quite unacquainted witli tlie results 
of this feverish activity of modern civiHzation, and 
especially of American civilization, reason would en- 
able us to anticipate those results. Such excitements, 
such restless energy, such continued stress of the 
nerves, must, in course of a few generations, decidedly 
change the nervous organization of men. We know 
that the progress of ci^dlization has refined tempera- 
ments, has rendered men more susceptible and sensi- 
tive. A tragedy that is a nine days' horror with us 
would hardly have attracted more than a passing glance 
in old Kome, whose gentle matrons made a holiday by 
attending gladiatorial shows, and seeing men kill each 
other for Koman sport at the rate of 10,000 in a single 
reign. And when brothers met in the arena, and lacked 
the nerve to strike each other down, red-hot ii'ons were 
pressed against then- naked, quivering flesh to goad 
them on, while these same mothers shouted: " Kill !" 
"We com]3lain sometimes that modern hfe has become 
too largely one of feeling. It is true the many live 
lives of impulse, rather than of principle ; but it is also 
true that the springs of human sympathy were never 
so easily touched as now. Such wide differences in 
men's sensibilities argue not only a difference of edu- 
cation, but a change in the world's nerves.* 

Physicians tell us that going from the equator north, 
and from the arctic regions south, nervous disorders 
increase until a climax is reached in the temperate 
zone. An eminent physician of New York, the late Dr. 
George M. Beard, who has made nervous diseases a 
specialty, says that they are comparatively rare in 

* Since writing the above, I find the following sentence in Dr. Gea M. 
Beard's American Nervousness, p. 118: "Fineness of organization, wb*ch 
is essential to the development of the civilization of modern times, is *»- 
ttompaniedby intensified mental susceptibility." 



72 PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

Spain, Italy and the northern portions of Europe, also 
in Canada and the Gulf States, but very common in 
our Northern States and in Central Europe. And this 
belt, it will be observed, coincides exactlyvrith the zone 
of the world's greatest activity; and further, where 
this activity is greatest; viz., in the United States, 
these nervous disorders are the most frequent. Dr. 
Beard begins an exceedingly interesting work* on nerv- 
ous exhaustion with these sentences: "There is a 
large family of functional nervous disorders that are 
increasingly frequent among the indoor classes of civ- 
ilized countries, and that are especially frequent in the 
northern and eastern parts of the United States. The 
sufferers from these maladies are counted in this coun- 
try by thousands and hundred of thousands ; in all the 
Northern and Eastern States they are found in nearly 
every brain- working household." After speaking of 
certain numerous and wide-spread nervous diseases 
among us, he adds : "In Europe these affections are 
but little known." They are ail diseases of civilization, 
and of modern civilization, and mainly cf the nineteenth 
century, and of the United States. "Neurasthenia," 
which is the name he gives to nervous exhaustion, 
"is," he says, "comparatively a modern disease, its 
symptoms surprisingly more frequent now than in the 
last century ; and is an American disease, in this, that 
it is very much more common here than in any other 
part of the civilized world." 

"When we consider that the increased activity of modern 
civilization is attended by new and increasing nervous 
disorders, that the belt of prevalent nervous diseases 
coincides exactly with that of the world's greatest activ- 
ity, and, further, that in this belt, where the activity is 

* Entitled Neurasthenia, 



PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 78 

by far the most intense, nervous affections aie by far 
the most common, it is evident that the intensity of 
modern life has abeady worked, and continues to work, 
important changes in men's nervous organization. The 
American people are rapidly becoming the most nervous, 
the most highly organized, in the world, if, indeed, 
they are not already such. And the causes, climatic 
and other, which have produced this result, continue 
operative. 

Be it observed now that nervous people are exposed 
to a double danger from intoxicating liquors. In the 
lii'st place, they are more likely than others to desire 
stimulants. Says Dr. Beard: "When the nervous sys- 
tem loses, through any cause, much of its nervous 
force, so that it cannot stand upright with ease and 
comfort, it leans on the neai'est and most convenient 
artificial support that is capable of temporarily prop- 
ping up the enfeebled frame. Anything that gives 
ease, sedation, obhvion, such as chloral, chloroform, 
opium or alcohol, may be resorted to at first as an in- 
cident, and finally as a habit. Such is the philosophy 
of opium and alcohol inebriety. Not only for the re- 
lief of pain, but for the relief of exhaustion, deeper 
and more distressing than pain, do both men and 
women resort to the drug shop. I count this one of 
the great causes of the recent increase of opium* and 
alcohol inebriety among women." 

As a nation grows more nervous, its use of in- 
toxicating liquors increases. In Great Britain, Bel- 
gium, Holland and Germany, which are the European 
countries lying in the nervous belt, there has been a 

* There were imported into the TJnited States in 18£9, 90,997 pounds of 
opium; in 18T4, 170,706 pounds; in 18T7, 230,102 pounds; during the fiscal 
year ending in 18S0, 553,451 pounds ; an increase of more than sLx-f old in 
eleven years. 



74 PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

marked increase in tlae use of alcohol during recent 
years. Since 1840, its consumption in Belgium has 
increased 238 per cent. In 1869 there were 120,000 
saloons in Prussia ; in 1880 there were 165,000. From 
1831 to 1872, while the population (not including re- 
cent annexations) increased 53 per cent., whisky sa- 
loons increased 91 per cent. For all Germany, the in- 
crease in consumption of spirituous liquors, per caput, 
from 1872 to 1875, was 23.5 per cent. The German 
correspondent of the New York Nation writes: 
" Within the last few years dram and whisky drinking 
has, with fearful rapidity, spread more and more 
among the working classes. Even in wine-growing 
and beer-producing countries, alcohol is taking the 
place of lighter beverages." In Great Britain, during 
the year 1800, a population of 15,000,000 consumed a 
little less than 12,000,000 gallons of spuits. Fifty 
years later, a population of 27,000,000 consumed 28,- 
000,000 gallons. In 1874, a population of 32,000,000 
consumed 41,000,000 gallons. That is, while the 
population increased 113 per cent., the consumption 
of spirituous liquors increased 241 per cent. From 
1868 to 1877 (the latest statistics to which I have 
access), while the population increased less than ten 
per cent., the amount of spirituous liquors consumed 
increased thirty-seven per cent. " In the United 
States," says The Voice,* a careful and accurate au- 
thority, " the consumption of beer has increased, since 
1840, 1,675 per cent., of wine 400 per cent., and of 
ardent spirits over 200 per cent.f (these are not our es- 
timates, but are figures taken from the governmental 
official reports)." According to these official reports, 
the people of the United States used four gallons of 

* Sept. 25th, 1884. 

t During the same period the population increased about 217 per cent. 



PERILS, INTEMPERANCE. 75 

intoxicating drinks per caput in 1840, and twelve 
gallons per caput in 1883. Diu'ing the five years pre- 
ceding 1884, while the population increased about 15 
per cent., the consumption of distilled spii'its increased 
44.5 per cent., and that of malt liquors 60.2 per cent. 
The production of the latter has risen from 1,628,934 
barrels in 1863 to 18,998,619 barrels in 1884. 

It should be remembered that at the beginning of 
this century liquors were on every side-board, and 
conscientious sciniples against then* moderate use were 
almost unheard of. To-day there are many millions 
of teetotalers both in this country and in Great 
Britain. Especially dui'ing the past twenty years, 
while the manufacture of intoxicants in the United 
States has so rapidly increased, the temperance reform 
has made wonderful progress, and the proportion of 
teetotalers is much greater to-day than ever before. 
And yet there is much more liquor used per caput 
now than formerly ; showing, conclusively, that there is 
much more of excess now than then ; declai-ing that, as 
a nation gi-ows nervous, those who drink at all are 
more apt to di*ink immoderately. 

Again, in the second place, men of nervous organiza- 
tion ai-e not only more likely than others to use al- 
cohol, and to use it to excess, but its effects in their 
case are worse and more rapid. The wide difference 
between a nervous and a phlegmatic temperament 
accounts for the fact that one man will kill himself 
with drink in four or five years, and another in forty 
or fifty. The phlegmatic man is but little sensitive to 
stimulus ; hence, when its influence wears off, there is 
little reaction. He, accordingly, forms the appetite 
slowly, and the j)rocess of destmction is slow. An- 
other man, of fine nervous organization, takes a glass 



76 PEBILS. ^INTEMPERANCE. 

of spii-its, and every nerve in his body tingles and 
leaps. The reaction is severe, and the nerves cry out 
for more. The appetite, rapidly formed, soon becomes 
uncontrollable, and the miserable end is not long de- 
layed. The higher development of the nervous sys- 
tem, which comes with the progress of civilization, 
renders men more sensitive to pain, more susceptible 
to the evil results which attend excess of any kind. 
Savages may, almost with impunity, transgress laws 
of health which would inflict on civilized men, for like 
transgression, penalties well-nigh or quite latal. It 
would seem as if God intended that, as men sin against 
the greater light which comes with increasing civiliza- 
tion, they should suffer severer punishment. 

It has been shown that the use of intoxicants is 
more dangerous for this generation than it has been 
for any preceding generation ; that it is more danger- 
ous for inhabitants of the nervous belt than for the re- 
mainder of mankind; that it is more dangerous foi 
the people of the United States than for other inhabit- 
ants of this belt. It remains to be shown that it is 
more dangerous for the people of the West than for 
those of the East. 

Among the principal causes which are operative to 
render the typical American temperament more nervous 
than the European is the greater dryness of our cli- 
mate. " Dr. Max von Pettenkof er has concluded, from 
the investigations he has made into the comparative 
loss of heat experienced by a person breathing diy air 
and one breathing damp air, that with the dry air 
more heat is lost and more created, and, in conse- 
quence, the circulation is quicker and more intense, 
life is more energetic, and there is no opportunity for 
the excessive accumulation of fat or flesh, or for the 



PEEILS. INTEMPERANCE. 77 

development of a phleginatically nervous tempera- 
ment." * The mountain region of the West has by 
far the dryest atmosphere of any portion. of the coun- 
try. The writer has often seen Long's Peak by moon- 
hght at a distance of eighty miles. The wonderful 
transparency of that mountain air is due to the ab- 
sence of moisture. Such a climate is itself a wine, and 
Hfe in it is greatly intensified, with corresponding re- 
sults in the nervous system. We should, accordingly, 
expect to find a marked increase of intemperance. 
And such is the case. In the ]\Iississippi valley, 
where the altitude is low, and the atmosphere moist, 
there is much less intemperance than in the mountains, 
as appears from the ratio of voters to saloons. Take 
the tier of states and territories next east of the Rocky 
Mountain range. In 1880, Dakota had 95 voters to 
every saloon ; | Nebraska, 133 ; Kansas, 224 ; and 
Texas, 136. But notice the change as soon as we 
reach the high altitudes. Montana had only 28 voters 
to each saloon j Wyoming, 43 ; Colorado, 37 ; New 
Mexico, 26 ; Arizona, 25 ; Utah, 84 ; Idaho, 35 ; Wash- 
ington, 68 ; Oregon, 58 ; California, 37 ; and Nevada, 
32. The average for the states between the Missis- 
sippi and the Rocky Mountains was one saloon to 
•very 112.5 voters. In the eleven mountain states and 
territories, the average was one saloon to every 43 
voters. East of the Mississippi, the average w^as one 
saloon to every 107.7 voters. If our assumption that 
the ratio of saloons to voters correctly measures in- 
temperance, is just, the people in the western third of 

• C. -E. Young, in Popular Science Monthly^ September, 1880. 

t Statistics compiled from Census of 1880, and Internal Eevenue of same 
year. The number of saloons is doubtless mucli larger tlian is reported Dy 
the Census ; but for comparison between the East and West, or the city and 
country, the Census statistics answer every purpose. 



78 f»ERiLS. iNTEMPERANCi!. 

the United States are two and one-half times as in- 
temperate as those in the eastern two-thirds. There 
are several causes of this, some of which are more or 
less temporary ; but one of the chief influences is cli- 
matic, which will continue operative. 

We have seen that the progress of civilization brings 
men into more intimate relations, that closer contact 
quickens activity, that increased activity refines the 
nervous system, and that a highly nervouj organization 
invites intemperance, and at the same time renders its 
destructive results swifter and more fatal. Thus the 
very progress of civilization renders men the easier 
victims of intemperance. "We have also seen that un- 
der regulation the liquor traffic increases much more 
rapidly than the population. The alternative, then, 
seems simple, clear, certain, that civilization must de- 
stroy the liquor traffic or be destroyed by it. Even 
here in the East, where there is only one saloon to 
every 107 voters, this death struggle is desperate, and 
no man looks for an easy victory over the dragon. 
What, then, of the far West, where the relative power 
of the saloon is two-and-a-half times greater? 

II. — The Liquoe Powee. 
The liquor traffic, of course, implies two parties, the 
buyer and the seller. The preceding discussion re- 
lates to the former, only a few words touching the lat- 
ter. According to the Report of the Commissioner of 
Internal Eevenue for 1883, there were then in the 
United States 206,970 liquor dealers and manufactur- 
ers. Their saloons, allowing twenty feet front to each, 
would reach in an unbroken line from Chicago to New 
York. There is invested in this business an immense 
capital. The North American Review estimates it at 



PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. ' 79 

$1,000,000,000, which is very moderate, if Joseph 
Cook's statement is corrov^i, that there are $75,000,000 
engaged in this traffic in the city of Boston. In an 
addi'ess in the House of Representatives, in favor of 
the Bonded "Whisky Bill, Hon. P. Y. Deuster, of Wis- 
consin, member of Congress, and special champion of 
the liquor dealers, said that the total market value of 
the spirituous, malt, and vinous liquors produced in 
1883 was' $490,961,588. According to the census, the 
capital invested in their manufactui-e was, in 1880, 
$132,051,260. It is generally estimated that the an- 
nual liquor bill of the nation is $900,000,000. So 
great wealth in the hands of one class, having common 
interests and a common purpose, is a mighty power. 
And this power does not lack organization. There is 
a combination of all the distillers north of the Ohio, 
from Pittsburgh to the Pacific. Then- success at 
Washington a few years since in securing legislation 
which gi'anted to whisky makers peculiar privileges, 
accorded to no other tax payers, is sufficient evidence 
of their power. The United States Brewers' Associa- 
tion was organized in 1862. The object of the organi- 
zation may be inferred from the introduction to theu* 
constitution, where we read : " That the owners of 
breweries, separately, are unable to exercise a proper 
influence in the interest of the craft in the legislature 
and public administration." How this " proper influ- 
ence" is brought to bear upon legislatures will appear 
later. That it is potent there can be no doubt. At the 
Brewers' Congress, held in Buffalo, July 8th, 1868, 
President Clausen, speaking of the action of the New 
York branch of the association, relative to the excise 
law of that state, said : " Neither means nor money 
vv^ere spared during the past twelve months to accom- 



80 ' PERILS. INTEMPEBANOE. 

plish the repeal of this detested law. The entu-e Ger- 
man population were enlisted." "Editorials favorable 
to the repeal were published in sixty different English 
and German newspapers. Just before the election, 
30,000 campaign circulars were distributed among 
the Germans of the different counties. A state con- 
vention of brewers, hop and malt dealers, hop growers, 
etc., was largely attended, and resolutions were 
adopted in which we pledged ourselves to support 
only such candidates who bound themselves to work 
for the repeal of the excise law, and thereby check the 
exertions of the temperance party. These resolutions 
were published, principally through the English press, 
in all the counties of the state. By these efforts the 
former minority in the Assembly was changed to a ma- 
jority of twenty votes in our favor." The object of 
this association is not industrial, but avowedly polit- 
ical. The president said, at the Chicago Congress, in 
1867 : " Only by union in brotherly love it will be pos- 
sible to attain such results, guard against oppressive 
laws, raise ourselves to be a large and wide-spread po- 
litical power, and with confidence anticipate complete 
success in all our undertakings." Again at Davenport, 
in 1870, President Clausen said : *' Unity is necessary, 
and we must form an organization that not only con- 
trols a capital of two hundred million dollars, but 
which also commands thousands of votes, politically, 
through which our legislators wdll discern our power." 
At the Chicago Congress, the brewers resolved : " That 
we consider it absolutely necessary that our organiza- 
tion should exist in every state and county." The fol- 
lowing resolution was passed by the Liquor Dealers 
and Manufacturers' Association of Illinois, four years 
ago : '-'Resolved, That the maintenance and perfection 



PEBILS. INTEMPERANCE. 81 

of our present State Association is absolutely neces- 
sary for the proper protection of our business inter- 
ests ; that the new Board of Trustees spare neither 
trouble nor expense to properly organize every sena- 
torial district in the state, so that, by the time of the 
next election of members of the General Assembly, the 
business men engaged in the liquor trade may be thor- 
oughly organized and disciplined." The Brewers and 
Maltsters'" Association, of New York, claims to control 
in that state 35,000 votes. 

Let us look now at some of the methods of the 
Liquor Power. The brewers favor boycotting. The 
following resolution was passed at their seventh con- 
gTess : '"''Resolved^ That we find it necessary, in a busi- 
ness point of view, to patronize only such business men 
as will work hand-in-hand with us." A blacksmith, 
who was employed by a brewer, served on a jury which 
convicted a saloon-keeper of selling Hquor contrary to 
law, and in consequence lost his situation. By then- 
own confession, they expend money freely to accompUsh 
their purpose at the polls. The Chicago delegate at 
the Miikaukee Congress, June 6th, 1877, said : " The 
brewers of Illinois have expended $10,000 to beat the 
temperance party at the elections." The Chair said : 
"Almost every local association has expended large 
amounts for this purpose." The liquor lobby at Al- 
bany, New York, at the session of 1878 — 9, admitted 
before a legislative committee that they had expended 
about $100,000 to influence legislation. From the con- 
fessions of an old liquor-dealer and lobbyist* we learn 
by what methods legislation at Albany was "influ- 
enced" twenty years ago. After the election and be- 
fore the legislature convened, " Our correspondents 

* C. B. Cotton, in Ttte, Voice for Feb. 5tli, 18S5. 



82 PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

tliroughout the state gave us special and truthful de- 
scriptions of every one of the opposition members, 
their mode of life, their habits, their eccentricities and 
their religious views ; whether they were approachable : 
with a thorough analysis of their characters in every 
way, so that we might understand our subjects in ad- 
vance." If the stiff- necked legislator could not be in- 
duced to vote directly against temperance measures, or 
persuaded to " dodge," he must be convinced that he 
was sick, threatened with diphtheria or something else, 
and unable to leave his room. A sworn affidavit of the 
doctor to this effect cost " anywhere from $25 to $100, 
according to the size of the lie sworn to." These cases 
of sickness never proved fatal, and recovery was always 
rapid. "I well remember a senator who was in great 
distress about a mortgage that was being foreclosed on 
his house, amounting to about $1,500. This man's 
trouble came to the knowledge of the lobby. Suddenly 
one of the lobbyists was missing, and a few days later 
the senator received his canceled mortgage through 
the post. He never forgot the favor, nor did his vote 
do us any harm afterward." Sometimes a member 
found an elegant suit of clothes hanging over a chair 
by his bedside in the morning ; and sometimes a rela- 
tive would be presented with a neat little house. An- 
other popular method was for a member to receive a 
package by express from Troy, or some other town 
near by. "This package always contained a certain 
sum of money, and it was always so arranged that one 
of the lobby should be with the gentleman when the 
package came to hand. No receipt was ever taken from 
the sender in his real name, but the receiver gave the 
Express Company one in his real name. So we had all 
the evidence we needed, and the receiver dared not go 



PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 83 

back on the compact tlie transaction covered. From 
that moment he was at the mercy of the lobby." " If 
our tactics failed in the legislature, and temperance 
laws were passed, we went home to defeat their execu- 
tion. The officers designated to execute these laws 
were generally elected. If by ourselves, it was all 
I'ight. If by our opponents, we had to buy them up, 
and but few were found who would not take a bribe." 
"Although the liquor lobby, dui'ing the last forty years, 
has used 77%illions of dollars in corrupt bargaining and 
bribery, and never has made a secret of the fact, yet no 
member was ever caught in the act, and, it is fair to 
presume, no one ever will be. There is no way so 
daxk they cannot find their road through." Thus does 
the Liquor Power corrupt public morals and defeat the 
popular will. 

And this power, which does not hesitate to buy 
votes or intimidate voters, to defy the law or bribe 
its officers, comes to its kingdom through pohtical 
partisanship, which enables it to make one of the two 
great parties its slave, and the other its minister. 
Even in the cities the citizens who desire clean govern 
ment are in the majority; but, instead of uniting to 
make and enforce good laws, they permit politics to 
enter into the elections, thus throwing the power into 
the hands of the bad minority. "There are two 
things," said D'Alembert, "that can reach the top of 
the pyramid — the eagle and the reptile." Under the rum 
government of our cities, the reptile climbs. In 1883, 
of the twenty-four aldermen of the city of New York, 
ten were liquor-dealers and two others, including the 
President of the Board, were ex-rumsellers. Impor- 
tant offices in the city government, which pay a salary 
of $12,000 or $15,000, have within a few years been 



84 PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

occupied by men who kept "bucket shops" and "all- 
night " dens ; some had been prize j&ghters, and others 
had been tried for the crime of murder. Is it strange 
if the law in the hands of such men is a dead letter t 
Says Anthony Comstock: "I have no doubt many of 
our influential city politicians are in receij^t of a regulai 
revenue in the way of hush money from gambling-sa- 
loons, brothels and gioggeries, and the word is passed all 
the way down the line to let them alone." Dr. Howard 
Crosby says : " One of the captains of police is said 
to have made $70,000 in one year by his carefulness in 
leaving the law-breakers alone. Anybody with half an 
eye can see that the exemption of the liquor-selling 
law-breakers from prosecution is a system and not an 
accident." "From Police Headquarters goes forth 
the order, not written but verbal, that the police are 
not to enforce the excise law. I have had my man on 
the force, and can speak with knowledge of the facts. 
If a man is arrested for violating an excise law, the 
next morning the one who arrested him is called up, 
reprimanded, and the man arrested is discharged, 
while the policeman is transferred to some far-off dis- 
trict, the twenty-fourth ward, for instance — that Bot- 
any Bay of the police force — if he is not immediately 
discharged by those four men we call Commissioners." 
Says the New York Times : " The great underlying 
evil, which paralyzes every effort to get good laws, and 
to secure the enforcement of such as we have, is the 
system of local pohfcics, which gives the saloon-keepers 
more power over government than is possesssed by all 
the religious and educational institutions in the city." 
Our cities are growing much more rapidly than the 
whole population, as is the liquor power also. If this 
power continues to keep the cities under its heel, what 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 85 

of the nation, when the city dominates the country? 
Such a powerful organization, resorting to such un- 
scrupulous methods in the interest of a legitimate 
business — mining, raih'oading — would be exceedingly 
dangerous in a republic; and the whole outcome of 
this traffic, pushed by such wealth, such organized en- 
ergy and such means, is the corrupting of the citizen 
and the embniting of the man. 

And if the liquor power is a peril at the East, what 
of the Rocky Mountain region and beyond, where 
mam monism is more abject, where there is less of 
Christian principle to resist the bribe, and where the 
relative power of the liquor traffic is two and a half 
times greater than at the East? 



CHAPTER Yin. 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 



Socialism attempts to solve the problem of suffering 
without eliminating the factor of sin. It says : "From 
each according to his abilities; to each according to 
liis wants." But this dictum of Louis Blanc could be 
realized only in a perfect society. Forgetting that 
" there is no political alchemy by which you can get 
golden conduct out of leaden instincts,"* socialism 
thinks to regenerate society without regenerating the 
individual. It proposes to work this regeneration by 

• Herbert Spencer, in Contemporary Beview, April, 1884, p. 482. 



86 PERILS, SOCIALISM. 

reorganizing society on a co-operative, instead of a 
competitive, basis. It talks mucli of fraternity, but 
forgets wbat Maurice finely said, that "there is no fra- 
ternity without a common Father." 

It attracts two very different and almost opposite 
classes of minds ; the one, men of large heart, philan- 
thropic, often self-sacrificing, but unpractical. Among 
this class there are not a few noble and brilliant names. 
The other class embraces discontented, envious, selfish, 
and often desperate, men, who are terribly practical in 
their proposed methods. Some have become discour- 
aged and sullen under real grievances, others are 
thoroughly vicious and lawless. 

The despotism of the few and the wretchedness of 
the many have produced European socialism. It has 
been supposed that its doctrines could never obtain in 
this land of freedom and plenty ; but there may be a 
despotism which is not political, and a discontent 
which does not spring from hunger. We have dis- 
covered that German socialism has been largely im- 
ported, has taken root, and is making a vigorous 
growth. Let us look at it as it appears in this coun- 
try. There are two parties in the United States, 
known as the " Socialistic Labor Party,'' and the " In- 
ternational Workingmen's Association." The one is 
the thin, the other the thick, end of the socialistic 
wedge. Both seek to overthrow existing social and 
economic institutions; both propose a co-operative 
form of production and exchange, as a substitute for 
the existing capitalistic and competitive system ; both 
expect a great and bloody revolution ; but they differ 
widely as to policy and extreme doctrines. The plat- 
form* of the Socialistic Labor Party contaiQS much 

* See the documeut in Joseph Cook's " Socialism," pp. 20 — 22. 



PERILS SOCIALISM. 87 

that is reasonable, and is well calculated to disciple 
American workmen. It does not, as a party, attack 
the family or religion, and is opposed to anarchy. 
The International Workingmen's Association, which is 
much the larger party, is extreme and violent. The 
ideals of the Internationals are "common property, 
sociahstic production and distribution, the grossest 
materiaUsm — for their god is their belly, free love, in 
all social arrangements, perfect individualism; or, in 
other words, anarchy. Negatively expressed — ^Away 
with private property! Away with all authority! 
Away with the state ! Away with the family ! Away 
with religion!"* In the manifesto unanimously 
adopted by the Internationals at Pittsburgh, occurs 
the following : " The church finally seeks to make com- 
plete idiots of the mass, and to make them forego the 
paradise on earth by promising them a fictitious 
heaven." '■'Truth,'^ pubUshed in San Francisco, says: 
"When the laboring men understand that the heaven 
which they are promised hereafter is but a mirage, 
they will knock at the door of the wealthy robber, with 
a musket in hand, and demand their share of the goods 
of this life now." '^JFreiheit,^^ the blasphemous paper 
of Herr Most, thus concludes an article on the 
"Fruits of the Belief in God": "Religion, authority 
and state, are all carved out of the same piece of wood 
— to the Devil with them all !" The same sheet " ad- 
vocates a new genealogy, traced from mothers, whose 
names, and not those of the fathers, descend to the 
childi'en, since it is never certain who the father is." 
"Public and common up-bringing of childi^en is likewise 



* Prof. R. T. Ely, in The Christian Wmon. For au able exposition of Re- 
cent Phases of Socialism in the United States, see articles by Professor Ely, 
in The Christian Union for April 24th, May Ist, and May 8th, 1884. 



88 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

favored in the ^Freiheit^ in order that the old family- 
may completely abandon the field to free love." * 

Having lost all faith in the ballot, the Internationals 
propose to carry out their "reforms" by force. The 
following is from the Pittsburgh manifesto : " Agita- 
tion for the purpose of organization ; organization for 
the purpose of rebellion. In these few words the ways 
are marked, which the workers must take if they want 
to be rid of their chains. "We could show, by scores of 
illustrations, that all attempts in the past to reform 
this monstrous system by peaceable means, such as 
the ballot, have been futile, and all such efforts in the 
future must necessarily be so. There remains but one 
recourse — force!" 

The Central Labor Union had a parade in New York 
City, September 5th, 1883, in which from ten to fifteen 
thousand laborers participated. Some of their ban- 
ners were inscribed as follows : " Workers in the Ten- 
ements, Idlers in the Brown-stone Fronts"; "Down 
with Oppressive Capital"; "The Wage System Makes 
Us Slaves"; " We Must Crush Monopolies Lest They 
Crush Us"; "Prepare for the Coming Kevolution"; 
" Every Man Must Have a Breech-loader, and Know 
How to Use It." The Yorhote, published in Chicago, 
glorifies dynamite as "the power which, in our hands, 
shall make an end of tyranny." Truth says : "War to 
khe palace, peace to the cottage, death to luxurious 
idleness. We have no moment to waste. Arm ! I say, 
to the teeth ! for the revolution is upon you." An ar- 
ticle in the Freiheit, entitled " Eevolutionary Princi- 
ples," contained the following : " He (the revolutionist) 
is the irreconcilable enemy of this world, and, if he 
continues to live in it, it is only that he may thereby 

* Professor Ely, in The Christian Union. 



PEBTT.9. SOCIALISM. 89 

more certainly destroy it. He knows only one science 
— namely, destruction. For this purpose he studies 
day and night. For him everything is moral which 
favors the triumph of the revolution, everything is im- 
moral and ciiminal which hinders it. Day and night 
may he cherish only one thought, only one pui-pose — 
namely, inexorable destruction. ^Tiile he pursues 
this purpose, without rest and in cold blood, he must 
be ready to die, and equally ready to kill every one 
with his own hands who hinders him in the attainment 
of this-pui'pose." There has been recently formed in 
the United States a society called " The Black Hand," 
which, in its proclamation, ui^ges " the propaganda of 
deed in every form," and cries: "War to the knife!" 
The explosions in the Houses of Pai'hament and Tow- 
er of London called forth the following declarations at 
a meeting of sociahsts in Chicago : " This explosion 
has demonstrated that sociahsts can safely go into 
large congregations in broad dayhght and explode 
theii- bombs. 

" A Httie hog's grease and a Uttle nitric acid make a 
teriible explosion. Ten cents' worth would blow a 
building to atoms. 

" Dynamite can be made out of the dead bodies of 
capitahsts as well as out of hogs. 

" All Chicago can be set ablaze in a minute by elec- 
tiicity. 

" Private property must be aboUshed, if we have to 
use all the dynamite there is, and blow ninety-nine 
hundredths of the people off the face of the earth." 

At the time of the raih'oad riots, in 1877, which cost 
many lives, and not less than a hundi-ed million dol- 
lai's of property, and to quell which ten states, reach 
ing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, called on the Pree 



90 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

ident of fclie United States for troops, there were but 
few socmlists among us, and they seem to have been 
taken unawares by the outbreak ; but they will be pre- 
pared to make the most of the next. The following 
are stock phrases, found in all their publications: 
" Get ready for another 1877"; " Buy a musket for a 
repetition of 1877"; "Buy dynamite for a second 1877"; 
" Organize companies and drill to be ready for a re- 
currence of the riots of 1877." 

As to the number of socialists in the United States 
we have no exact knowledge. Their press is numerous 
and is increasing. Moreover, " there are a very large 
number of papers like the Labor World of Philadel- 
phia, organs of the Knights of Labor, and other labor 
organizations, which have many points in common with 
the socialistic parties, which are growing nearer to 
them continually, and which undoubtedly help forward 
the general movement."* The labor papers of Michi- 
gan claim that, at the elections last fall, nineteen mem- 
bers of the labor organizations were elected to the 
State Legislature. In 1878 four socialistic aldermen 
were elected in Chicago, and the party's candidate for 
mayor received twelve thousand votes. Three candi- 
dates for the House of Representatives of Illinois, and 
one state senator were elected the same year.f Pro- 
fessor Ely doubts whether there are ten thousand out- 
spoken adherents of the Socialistic Labor Party in this 
country. The Internationals are much stronger, and 
are growing rapidly. A prominent member of this 
party in Chicago claims twenty-five thousand men, 
'* all armed and drilled." President Seelye, of Amherst 
College, says: "There are probably 100,000 men in 

* Professor Ely, in the Christian Union, May 8th, 1S84. 
t Quoted by Prof. Ely from the socialist's report published in Detroit, 1880, 



PUIILS. SOCIALISM. 91 

the United States to-day whose animosity against all 
existing social institutions is hardly less than bound- 
less."* A writert in The New Englander for January, 
1884, h-ciys there are in this country " 200,000 members 
of labor organizations who are more or less familiar 
with the doctrines of socialism." This is apparently a 
very mild statement, as the leading papers of New York 
City claimed, as long ago as the summer of 1881, that 
" The Kmghts of Labor " alone numbered 800,000, be- 
sides many smaller organizations, which are more or 
less sociahstic in theii' sympathies and ideas, though 
not avowedly connected with either of the sociahstic 
parties. The Yorhote of Chicago says : " You might 
as well suppose the mihtary organizations of Europe 
were for play and parade, as to suppose labor organiza- 
tions were for mere insui'ance and pacific helpfulness. 
They are organized to protect interests, for which, if 
the time comes, they would fight." But the present 
strength of socialistic organizations in the United 
States concerns us less than theu' prospective numbers. 
Let us look at the conditions favorable to the growth 
of sociaUsm. The reception given to the books of IVIr. 
Heniy George is one of the signs of the times. " Prog- 

* The reception given to Herr Most in this country is significant. His ad- 
vocacy of assassiaation as a means of progress was too extreme for the 
Social-democratic party in Germany, from which he was expelled on ac- 
count of his views. He has, however, been accorded a warm welcome in 
the United States. The writer heard Irim in Cincinnati soon after the riot. 
His subject was, "The Coming Crisis of the World, and the Social Revolu- 
tion." He began his remarks by saying that some had connected the late 
riot in this, city with his speeches. His defense was that " If the socialists, 
in their might, and the working men, had arisen, they would not have at- 
tacked the jail and its murderers, but have gone to the palaces of the rich." 
Although it was a rainy night the hall was packed with a sympathetic audi- 
ence, even the standing room being taken. His most bloodthirsty and in- 
cendiary utterances were applauded to the echo with voice, hand and foot- 
He has met like audiences in other large cities. 

t Kev. Edward Kirk Eawson. 



92 PERILS. SOCIAI ISM. 

ress and Poverty " has been read by tens of thousands 
of workingmen. And the fact that the demand for an 
economic work should exhaust more than a hundred 
editions, and still continue unsatisfied, indicates a great 
deal of popular sympathy with its doctrines. That Mr. 
George has made many disciples among American 
workmen is shown by the organs of the various laboi 
organizations; and any one who is convinced that 
proprietorship in land is unjust, has taken at least one 
step toward Proudhon's famous doctrine that " prop- 
erty is theft." Mr. George has rendered eminent ser- 
vice to the cause of socialism against traditional law 
by bringing to its support, in the United States, the 
strength of moral ideas. 

1. Most of the Internationals, the anarchic socialists, 
in this country are Germans, whose numbers are con- 
stantly being recruited by immigration. And not only 
is immigration to increase, but socialism is spreading 
rapidly in Germany, which will influence its growth 
here. " Since the organization of the German Empire 
the social democratic votes for members of the Impe- 
rial Parliament (Reichstag) have numbered as follows : 
1871, 123,975; 1874, 351,952; 1877, 493,288; 1878, 
437,158.* In 1884 the socialists of Germany cast 700,- 
000 votes and elected twenty-foiu' members of the 
Reichstag. " Professor Fawcett, in opening his present 
course of lectures at Oxford, said that, if the growth of 
the socialistic political vote progressed in Germany and 
the United States for the next fifty years as it has for 
the last fifty, capital can do nothing effectual against 
socialism."! 

2. There are other influences, which, though obscure, 

• Professor Ely's "French and German Socialism in Modern Times," p. 213. 
t Josepli Cook's "Socialism," p. IT, 1880. 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 93 

ai'e no less potent than immigration in fostering the 
growth of socialism in America. Among the deep cui'- 
rents of the centmies, flowing down through the last 
eighteen hundi'ed years, there has been an irresistible 
drift toward individualism. Guizot says that the 
" prime element in modern European civilization is the 
energy of individual life, the force of personal exist- 
ence." The masses once existed for the state ; the in- 
dividual was nothing. When Chiist said: "What 
shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and 
lose his own soul ?" thus teaching the priceless worth 
of every human being, he introduced a new idea into 
the world, which is leavening society. It has manu- 
mitted slaves, it has elevated woman, it has overthrown 
despotisms and written constitutions, it has swept 
away privileges and abolished caste. It is beai'ing 
Eui'ope onward to populai* government. Is it strange 
that the liberated pendulum should swing beyond the 
position of stable equilibrium? Already are there 
signs of an excessive individualism among us ; a cer- 
tain self-assertion, a contempt of authority, which for- 
gets that duties are co-extensive with rights. Extreme 
sociahsm is only "individualism gone mad." This 
powerful movement, therefore, toward individualism, 
and especially its perceptible tendency toward ex- 
tremes, is favorable to the spread of socialism. 

3. The prevalence of skepticism, also, is significant 
in this connection. A wide-spread infidelity preceded 
the French Revolution, and helped to prepare the way 
for it. A criminal in a prison on the Rhine left, not 
long since, on the walls of his cell, the following mes- 
sage for his successors: "I will say a word to you. 
There is no heaven or hell. "WHien once you are dead 
there is an end of everything. Therefore, ye scoun- 



94 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

drels, grab whatever you can ; only do not let your- 
selves be grabbed. Amen." Not only does irreligion 
remove all salutary fear of retribution hereafter, and 
thus give over low-minded men to violence and excess ; 
but, when a man has lost all portion in another life, he 
is the more determined to have his proportion in this. 
There are, doubtless, Christian socialists ; but the In- 
ternationalists are gross materialists. The socialist, 
Boruttau, says : " No man else is worthy of the name 
of socialist save he who, himself an atheist, devotes his 
exertions with all zeal to the spread of atheism." The 
great increase, therefore, of skepticism in this genera- 
tion, and especially of doubt touching the sanctions of 
the divine law, has prepared a quick and fruitful soil 
for socialism. 

4. Equality is one of the dreams of socialism. It 
protests against all class distinctions. The develop- 
ment of classes, therefore, in a republic, or the widen- 
ing of the breach between them, is provocative of so- 
cialistic agitation and growth. Among the far-reach- 
ing influences of mechanical invention is a tendency, 
as yet unchecked, to highten differences of condition, 
to establish social classes, and erect barriers between 
them. In a sense, classes do and must exist wherever 
there are resemblances and differences ; but so long as 
the individual members of social classes easily rise or 
fall from one to the other, by virtue of their own acts, 
such classes are neither unrepublican nor unsafe. But, 
when they become practically hereditary, differences 
are inherited and increased, antipathies are strength- 
ened, the gulf between them is widened, and they 
harden into casts which are both unrepublican and 
dangerous. Now the tendency of mechanical inven- 
tion, under our present industrial system, is to sepa- 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 95 

rate classes more widely, and to render them hered- 
itary. 

Before the age of machinery, master, joui'neymen, 
and apprentices worked together on familiar terms. 
The apprentice looked forward to the time when he 
should receive a journeyman's wages, and the journey- 
man might reasonably hope some day to have a shop 
of his own. Under this system there was little oppor- 
tunity to develop class distinctions and jealousies. 
Moreover, there was a great variety of work. A black- 
smith, for instance, was not master of his trade until 
he could make a thousand things, from a nail to an 
iron fence. There was relief from monotony, and 
scope for ingenuity and taste. But machinery is in- 
troduced, and with it important changes. It is dis- 
covered that the subdivision of labor both improves 
and cheapens the product. And this double advan- 
tage has stimulated the tendency in that direction until 
a single ai'ticle that was once made by one workman 
now passes through perhajDS threescore paii*s of hands, 
each doing a certain part of the work on every piece. 
Manchester workmen, complaining of the monotony of 
their work, said to IMr. Cook: "It is the same thing- 
day by day, sir ; it's the same little thing ; one little, 
little thing, over and over and over." Think of mak- 
ing pin-heads, ten houi's a day, every working day in 
the week, for a year — twenty, forty, fifty years! A 
nailer, in the midst of a clatter, enough to drown 
thought, does his day's work by pressing into the jaws 
of an ever-ravenous machine a small bar of iron, which 
he tui-ns rapidly from side to side. Think of making 
that one movement for a lifetime ! Such dreary mo- 
notony is the most wearisome of all manual labor. It 
admits of Httle interest and no enthusiasm in one's 



96 PEBILS. SOCIALISM. 

work ; and, worst of all, it cramps the mind and belit- 
tles the man. Once the man who made the nail could 
make the iron fence, also ; now he cannot even make 
the nail, but only feed a machine that makes it. Be- 
yond question, under the minute division of labor, the 
operative tends to degenerate. This truth is sadly 
manifest in the manufacturing towns of England. 
Says Mr. Emerson :* " The robust rural Saxon degen- 
erates in the mills to the Leicester stockinger, to the 
imbecile Manchester spinner — far on the way to be 
spiders and needles. The incessant repetition of the 
same hand- work dwarfs the man, robs him of his 
strength, wit, and versatility, to make a pin-polisher, 
a buckle-maker, or any other specialty ; and presently, 
in a change of industry, whole towns are sacrificed 
like ant-hills !" And statistics show that the population 
of the manufacturing departments of France, also, is 
far inferior to that of the agricultural departments. 

Under the low wages of the present industrial sys- 
tem, there is a strong tendency among operatives to 
form an hereditary class, and thus degenerate the 
more. In Massachusetts, where statistics of labor are 
the most elaborate published, the average working man 
is unable to support the average working man's fam- 
ily. In 1883 the average expenses of working men's 
families, in that state, were $754.42, while the earnings 
of workmen who were heads of families averaged 
$558.68.1 This means that the average working man 
had to call on his wife and children to assist in earn- 
ing their support. We accordingly find that, in the 
manufactures and mechanical industries of the state, 
in 1883, there were engaged 28,714 children under six- 

* " English Traits," p. 240. 

t " Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics," p. 4(i4. 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 97 

teen years of age. Of the average working man's fam- 
ily 32.44 per cent, of the support fell upon the children 
and mother. I am not aware that the condition of the 
working man is at all exceptional in Massachusetts. 
"In their last report, the Illinois Commissioners of 
Labor Statistics say that thek tables of wages and 
cost of living are representative only of intelhgent 
working men, who make the most of their advantages, 
and do not reach ' the confines of that world of helpless 
ignorance and destitution in which multitudes in all 
large cities continually live, and whose only statistics 
are those of epidemics, pauperism, and crime.' Nev- 
ertheless, they go on to say, an examination of these 
tables will demonstrate that one-half of these intelli- 
gent working men of Illinois ' are not even able to earn 
enough for their daily bread, and have to depend upon 
the labor of women and children to eke out their mis- 
erable existence.' "* In 1880, of persons engaged in 
all occupations in the United States, 1,118,356 were 
children fifteen years of age or under. f Their num- 
ber, in ten years, increased 21 per cent, more rapidly 
than the population. These children ought to be 
in the school instead of the mill or the mine. How 
much longer will the operatives of the United States 
be distinguished for their intelligence if oui' children 
under sixteen are pressed into the factory? In many 
cases the body is stunted, the mind cramped, and the 
morals corrupted. A writer J in the North American 
Review^ for June, 1884, says that in Pennsylvania 
there are " herds of little children of all ages, from six 
years upward, at work in the coal breakers, toiling in 



• Henry George's " Social Problems," p. 100. 

t " Compendium of the Tenth Census," Part II, p. 185S. 

% Henry D. Lloyd. 



98 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

dirt, and air thick with carbon dust, fronj dawn Dc 
dark, of every day in the week except Sunday. These 
coal breakers are the only schools they know. A let- 
ter from the coal regions, in the Philadelphia I^ress, 
declares that ' there are no schools in the world where 
more evil is learned, or more innocence destroyed, than 
in the breakers. It is shocking to watch the vile prac- 
tices indulged in by these children, to hear the fright- 
ful oaths they use, to see their total disregard for re- 
ligion and humanity.' " In the upper part of Luzerne 
County there are three thousand children, between six 
and fifteen years of age, at work in this way. In mills 
and factories children are put to feeding machines, 
and the narrow round of work prevents a natural de- 
velopment of the mind. Girls brought up in the fac- 
tories, or whose mothers are there employed, make 
poor housekeepers, learn little of those arts of economy 
by which the handful of meal and the cruse of oil of 
a meager income waste not, neither fail. They make 
poor wives, and keep their husbands poor. Thus the 
children of another generation are forced into che fac- 
tory. Hence the tendency to establish a class of he- 
reditary operatives, which classes are already estab- 
lished in Europe, and will appear here in due time. 

Moreover, our labor system, together with mechan- 
ical invention, is steadily developing an unemployed 
class, which furnishes ready recruits to the criminal, 
intemperate, socialistic and revolutionary classes. Mr. 
Gladstone estimates that manufacturing power, by the 
aid of machinery, doubles for the world once in seven 
years. Invention is liable, any day, to render a given 
tool antiquated, and this or that technical skill useless. 
Every great labor-saving invention, though it eventu- 
ally increases the demand for labor, temporarily 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 99 

cJbrows great numbers out of employment. The 
operative, who for years has confined himself to one 
thing, has, thereby, largely lost the power of adapta- 
tion. He cannot turn his hand to this or that ; he is 
very likely too old to learn a new trade, or acquire new 
technical skill ; he has no alternative ; and, unless an- 
chored by a family, probably turns tramp. Competi- 
tion produces over-production, which results in clos- 
ing mills and mines for long periods, thus swelling the 
floating population. 

"We have seen that mechanical invention tends to 
create an hereditary operative class, arid an unem- 
ployed and floating population. It also tends, on thc- 
other hand, to create a class of capitalists and monopo- 
Hsts.* Before the age of machinery, manufacturing 
power was, of course, muscular. That power belonged 
to the workmen, and could not be monopolized or cen- 
tralized without their consent. Every man had a fair 
chance to compete with his fellow ; no one enjoyed an 
immeasurable advantage ; but machinery enables one 
man to own a power equal to that of a thousand or 
ten thousand men. Modern science and invention, in 
subjecting mighty forces of nature to human control, 
have made the Anakim our slaves. Here is an army 
of giants who never hunger and never tii'e, who never 
sufler and never complain ; when ordered to stop 
working, they never raise bread riots. They always 
recognize their masters, and obey without question 
and without conscience. The availability and magni- 

* After discussing tliese tendencies of modem manufactures, De Tocque- 
ville advises tlie friends of democracy to "keep their eyes anxiously fixed 
in this dire, tion," and adds : " For if ever a permanent iuequility of condi- 
tions and aristocracy again penetrate into the world, it may be predicted 
that this is the channel by which they will enter." "Democracy in 
' merica," l^ook Second, Chap. 20. 



100 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

tude of these forces make the concentration of power 
both certain and dangerous. The masters of these 
forces are the Csesars and Napoleons of modern 
society. Within certain limits, other things being 
equal, the larger the manufactory the cheaper the 
product, and the greater the percentage of profit on 
the investment. This law results in the massing of 
capital. These great enterprises demand able men to 
organize and conduct them. The employer is no 
longer a workman with his employes; his work is 
mental, not manual; it tasks and strengthens all his 
powers ; his faculties are developed, while those of the 
men who tend his machines are cramped. He has 
little personal acquaintance with his employes, and, 
with noble exceptions, has little personal interest in 
them. Thus these classes grow apart. Says Mr. 
Lecky : " Every change of conditions which widens 
the chasm and impairs the sympathy between rich and 
poor, cannot fail, however beneficial may be its effects, 
to bring with it grave dangers to the state. It is in- 
contestable that the immense increase of manufactur- 
ing population has had this tendency."* And not 
only are these classes becoming further removed from 
each other, they are also becoming organized against 
each other. Capital is combining in powerful corpora- 
tions and " pools," and labor is combining in powerful 
trades- unions. And these opposing organizations 
make trials of strength, offer terms and conditions of 
surrender, like two hostile armies. 

5. Again, socialism fattens on discontent. We are 
told that the condition of working men everywhere has 
vastly improved during the last fifty or a hundred years. 



• "Eugland in the Eighteenth Century," Vol. II, p. 693. 



PERILS. SOCLiLISM. 101 

If this be true, it has not prevented a rapid growth of 
socialism in Eui'ope ; and the fact that American work- 
men are better off than Eui'opean, will not prevent its 
spread here. De Tocqneville observed and wondered 
that the masses find their position the more intolera- 
ble the more it is improved. This is because the man 
improves faster than his condition ; his wants increase 
more rapidly than his comforts. A savage, having 
nothing, is perfectly contented so long as he wants 
nothing. The first step toward civilizing him is to 
create a want. Men rise in the scale of civilization 
only as their wants rise ; and, wherever a man may be 
on that scale, to awaken wants which cannot be satis- 
fied is to provoke discontent as surely as if comforts 
were taken from him. Macaulay argues that the nine- 
teenth century is the golden age of England, rather 
than the seventeenth, because then, "noblemen were 
destitute of comforts, the want of which would be in- 
tolerable to a modern footman, and farmers and shop- 
keepers breakfasted on loaves the very sight of which 
would raise a riot in a modern workhouse,'' and 
especially because few knights had " libraries as good 
as may now perpetually be found in a servants' hall, 
or in the back parlor of a small shop-keeper."* The 
evidence of progress is found not so much in the fact 
that the footman has a hbrary as that he wants it. 
There has been a wonderful "leveling up" of the 
common people, and their wants have risen accord- 
ingly. It is very true that within a century there has 
been a great multiphcation of the comforts of life 
among the masses ; but the question is lohether that 
increase has kept ^^«ce with the multiplication of 
loants. The mechanic of to-day, who has much, may 

* " History of England," Chap. 3. 



102 PEBILS. SOCIALISM. 

be poorer than his grandfather, who had Httle. A 
rich man may be poor, and a poor man may be rich. 
Poverty is something relative, not absolute. I do not 
mean simply that a rich man is poor by the side of one 
richer. That man is poor v^ho lacks the means of sup- 
plying what seem to him reasonable wants. The 
horizon of the working man, during this century, has 
been marvelously expanded; there has been a pro- 
digious multiplication of his wants. The peasant of a 
few generations ago knew little of any lot save his 
own. He saw an aristocracy above him, which enjoyed 
peculiar privileges; but these were often justified in 
his eyes by superior intelligence and manners. The 
life of the rich and great was far removed from him 
and vague. He was not discontented for lack of luxu- 
ries of which he knew nothing. But modern manu- 
factures and commerce and shop-windows have made 
all luxuries familiar to all eyes. The working man of 
to-day in the United States has probably had a com- 
mon school education, has traveled somewhat, attended 
expositions, visited libraries, art galleries and museums ; 
through books he has become more or less acquainted 
with all countries and all classes of society ; he reads 
the papers, he is vastly more intelligent than his 
grandfather was, he lives in a larger world, and has 
many more wants. Indeed, his wants are as bound- 
less as his means are limited. Education increases 
the capability of enjoyment; and this capability is in- 
creasing among the many more rapidly than the means 
of gratification ; hence a growing popular discontent. 
There is much dissatisfaction among the masses of 
Europe. There would be more if there were greater 
popular intelligence. Place Americans in the circum- 
stances under which the peasant of Continental Europe 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 103 

lives, and there would be a revolution in twenty-four 
hours. Hopeless poverty, therefore, in the United 
States, where there is greater intelligence, will be 
more restless, and more easily become desperate than 
in Europe. Many of oui' working men are beginning 
to feel that, under the existing industrial system, they 
are condemned to hopeless poverty. We have already 
seen that the average working man in Massachusetts 
and Illinois is unable to support his family. At that 
rate, how long will it take him to become the owner of 
a home ? Of males engaged in the industries of Mas- 
sachusetts in 1875, only one in one hundred owned a 
house. "When a working man is unable to earn a home, 
or to lay by something for old age, when sickness or 
the closing of the factory for a few weeks, means debt, 
is it strange that he becomes discontented ? 

And how are such items as the following, which ap- 
peared in the papers of January, 1880, likely to strike 
discontented laborers'? "The profits of the Wall Street 
Kings the past year were enormous. It is estimated 
that Yanderbnt made $30,000,000 ; Jay Gould, $15,000,- 
000 ; RusseU Sage, $10,000,000 ; Sidney Dillon, $10,000,- 
000 ; James R. Keene, $8,000,000 ; and three or f oui' 
others from one to two millions each ; making a gi'and 
total for ten or twelve estates of about eighty millions 
of dollars." Is it strange if the working man thinks he 
is not getting his due share of the wonderful increase 
of national wealth ? 

" There is," says the eminent Professor Caimes, " a 
constant growth of the national capital, with a nearly 
equally constant decline in the proportion of capital 
which goes to support productive labor." And this 
can result, he points out, only in " a hai'sh separation 
of classes, combined with those glaidng inequalities in 



104 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

the distribution of wealth which most people will 
agree are among the elements of our social insta- 
bility." "Unequal as is the distribution of wealth 
already in this country (England), the tendency of in- 
dustrial progress — on the supposition that the present 
separation between industrial classes is maintained — 
is toward an inequality greater still. The rich will be 
growing the richer, and the poor at least relatively 
poorer."* Professor Henry Carter Adams says that 
"the benefits of the present civilization are not im- 
partially distributed, and that the laborer of to-day, 
as compared with the non-laboring classes, holds a rel- 
atively inferior position to that maintained in former 
times. The laborer himself interprets this to mean 
that the principle of distribution, which modern so- 
ciety has adopted, is unfair to him."t Is it strange 
that working men should agree with such conclusions 
of political economists ? 

Many wage-workers have come to feel that the capi- 
talist is their natural enemy, and that he is always 
ready, when opportunity offers, to sacrifice them and 
their families to his selfish gains. This does the great- 
est injustice to some employers, who, in times of de- 
pression, run their factories for months at a daily loss 
to themselves, rather than throw their workmen out of 
employment. But such capitalists are as rare as they 
are noble. More do not hesitate to enter into combi- 
nations powerful enough to command the trade, and 
then stop work for weeks and months in order to in- 
flate prices, already fair. In November, 1883, the As- 
sociation of Nail-makers ordered a suspension in order 
to raise prices ; and for five weeks 8,000 workmen were 

* Political Economy. 

t Quote-! by Washington Gladden, LL.D., in Century Magazine for Octo^ 
ber, 1884, p. 906. 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 105 

fclu'own out of employment, just as winter was coming 
on. Every mill in the West was in the "pool"; the 
suftering workmen, therefore, could not gain employ- 
ment by going from one to another. They had 
learned to do but one thing, and could not turn their 
hand to anything else. There was nothing to do but 
nurse their discontent. Those November and Decem- 
ber weeks were a good s]3ring-time for sowing social- 
istic seed. The Liverpool Cotton Exchange, three 
yeai'S ago, by manipulating prices, stopped 15,000,000 
spindles, thus taking the bread out of the mouths of 
thousands of men, women, and children. The above 
simply illustrates a strong tendency toward combina- 
tion and monopoly, which is one of the darkest clouds 
on our industrial and social horizon. Our various in- 
dustries are combining to force down production — 
that means that working men are thrown out of em- 
ployment; and to force up prices — that means in- 
creased cost of living. There are lumber, coal, coke, 
oil, brick, nail, screw, steel, rope, fence-wire, glass, 
wall-paper, school books, insurance, hardware, starch, 
cotton, and scores of other combinations, all made in 
the interest of 'capitalists. Small dealers must enter 
the "pool" or be crushed. Once in, they must submit 
to the dictation of the " large " men. Thus power is 
being gathered more and more into the hands of con- 
scienceless monopolies. 

Adam Smith thought wheat was less liable than any 
other commodity to be monopoHzed by speculators, 
because "its owners can never be collected in one 
place." But this supposed impossibility is practically 
overcome by the railway and telegi'aph, and now 
Boards of Trade arbitrarily make and unmake the 
prices of food, and wheat is as easily "cornered" as 



106 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

anything else. A single firm in Chicago, five years 
ago, gained control of the pork market, more than 
doubled the price, and cleared over seven million dol- 
lars on a single deal, the influence of which in advan- 
cing prices was felt in every part of the world.. The 
full significance of such transactions is seen only when 
we consider, as has been shown by Drs. Drysdale and 
Farr, of England, that the death rate rises and falls 
with the prices of food. When the necessaries of life 
are " too easily " secured, combinations declare a war 
against plenty, production is stopped, and tens of 
thousands are forbidden to earn while prices rise. 
Thus, in this land of plenty, a few men may, at their 
pleasure, order a famine in thousands of homes. 

This is modern and republican feudalism. These 
American barons and lords of labor have probably 
more power and less responsibility than many an olden 
feudal lord. They close the factory or the mine, and 
thousands of workmen are forced into unwilling idle- 
ness. The capitalist can arbitrarily raise the price of 
necessaries, can prevent men's working, but has no re- 
sponsibility, meanwhile, as to their starving. Here is 
" taxation without representation " with a vengeance. 
We have developed a despotism vastly more oppressive 
and more exasperating than that against which the 
thirteen colonies rebelled. 

Working men are apt to be improvident. It is often 
their own fault that enforced idleness so soon brings 
want. Though, at times, they know enough of want, 
as a class they know little of self-denial. They gen- 
erally live up to the limit of their meaas. If wages are 
good, they have the best the market affords ; when 
work and credit fail, they go hungry. Neither the 
capitalist nor the laborer has a monopoly of the fault 



PERILS. SOCIALISM. 107 

for the difficulties existing between them. But oiu* 
inquiiy is after facts, not faults ; and the fact of im- 
providence on the pai't of many working men only- 
makes theii- discontent the deeper and more certain. 

A communistic leader, who visited America thirty 
years ago, was asked what he thought of the condition 
of the working classes here. " It is very bad," he re- 
pHed, "they are so discouragingly prosperous." But 
the growth of dissatisfaction and of socialism among 
our wage-workers, in recent yeai's, has taken place not- 
withstanding generally good harvests and a great in- 
crease of aggTegate wealth. Poor harvests were potent 
causes in bringing Louis X^T!. to the guillotine, and 
precipitating the Reign of Terror. We must, of coui-se, 
expect them to occur as heretofore, perhaps recui* in 
successive years. The condition of the working man 
will then probably be bad enough to satisfy the most 
pessimistic agitator. Every such " vdnter of discon- 
tent " among laborers is made "glorious summer" for 
the growth of sociaHstic ideas. 

We have glanced at the causes which are ministering 
to the growth of sociaUsm among us : a wide-spread 
discontent on the part of our wage-working population, 
the development of classes and class antipathies, and 
the appearance of an unemployed class of professional 
beggars, popular skepticism, a powerful individuahsm, 
and immigi'ation. If these conditions should remain 
constant, sociahsm would continue to grow; but it 
should be remembered that all of these causes, with the 
possible exception of skepticism^ are becoming more 
active. Within the life-time of many now living, pop- 
ulation will be four times as dense in the United States 
as it is to-day. Wage-workers, now one-half of all oui- 
workers, will multiply more rapidly than the popula- 



108 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

tion. After our agricultural land is all occupied, as it 
will be a few years hence, our agricultui-al population, 
wHcli is one of the great sheet-anchors of society 
against the socialistic current, will increase but little, 
while great manufacturing and mining towns will go 
on multiplying and to multiply. In the development 
of our manufacturing industries and our mining re- 
sources we have made, as yet, hardly more than a be- 
ginning. When these industries have been multiplied 
ten-fold, the evils which now attend them will be cor- 
respondingly multiplied. 

It must not be forgotten that, side by side with this 
deep discontent of intelligent and unsatisfied wants, 
has been developed, in modern times, a tremendous 
enginery of destruction, which offers itself to every 
man. Since the "French Eevolution nitro-glycerine, 
illuminating gas, petroleum, dynamite, the revolver, 
the repeating rifle and the Gatling gun have all come 
into use. Science has placed in man's hand superhu- 
man powers. Society, also, is become more highly 
organized, much more complex, and is therefore much 
more susceptible of injury. There never was a time in 
the history of the world when an enemy of society 
could work such mighty mischief as to-day. The more 
highly developed a civilization is, the more vulnerable 
does it become. This is pre-eminently true of a ma- 
terial civilization. Learning, statesmanship, character, 
respect for law, love of justice, cannot be blown up 
with dynamite ; palaces, factories, railways, Brooklyn 
bridges, Hoosac tunnels, and all the long inventory of 
our material wonders are destructible by material 
means. " The explosion of a little nitro-glycerine un- 
der a few water mains would make a great city unin- 
habitable ; the blowing up ' of a f cav railroad bridges 



PEKILS. SOCIALISM. 109 

and tunnels would bring famine quicker than the wall 
of circumvallation that Titus di-ew ai'ound Jerusalem ; 
the pumping of atmospheric aii* into the gas-mains, and 
the application of a match would tear up every street 
and level every house."* We are preparing conditions 
which make possible a Eeign of Terror that would beg- 
gar the scenes of the French Eevolution. 

Conditions at the West are peculiarly favorable to 
the gi'owth of sociahsm. The much larger proportion 
of foreigners there, and the strong tendency of immi- 
gration thither, will have great influence. There is a 
stronger individuahty in the West. The people are 
less conservative ; there is less regard for established 
usage and opinion. The greater relative strength of 
Romanism there is significant ; for apostate Catholics 
furnish the very soil to which socialism is indigenous. 
Mormonism also is doing a like preparatory work. It 
is gatheiing together great numbers of ill-balanced 
men, who are duped for a time by Mormon mummeiy ; 
but many of them, becoming disgusted, leave the church 
and with it all faith in religion of any sort. Skeptical, 
soured, cranky, they are excellent socialistic material. 
Irreligion abounds much more than at the East ; the 
proportion of Christian men is much smaller. " Into 
these Western communities the international societies 
and secret labor leagues and Jacobin clubs, and athe- 
istic, infidel, rationahstic organizations of every name 
in the Old World, are continually emptying themselves. 
They are the natui'al reservoirs of whatever is uneasy, 
turbulent, antagonistic to either God or man among 
the populations across the sea. They are also the nat- 
ui'al places of refuge for all in our own country who are 
soured by misfortune, misanthi'opic, seekers of radical 
* " Social Problems," p. 14. 



110 PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

reforms, renegades, moral pariahs. They are hence, in 
the natm-e of things, a sort of hot-beds where every 
form of pestilent error is sure to be found and to come 
to quick fruitage. You can hardly find a group of 
ranch-men or miners from Colorado to the Pacific who 
will not have on their tongue's end the labor slang of 
Denis Kearney, the infidel ribaldry of Robert Ingersoll, 
the socialistic theories of Karl Marx."* 

Socialism makes few proselytes among farmers. Less 
than one-half of all the lands West of the Mississippi 
is arable. The agricultural element, therefore, will be 
a much smaller proportion of the whole population in 
the West than in the East. The industries of several 
of the great mountain states will be almost wholly 
mining and manufacturing ; nearly the whole popula- 
tion, therefore, will be wage-workers — the class most 
easily discipled by socialistic agitators. The capitaHst is 
a large figure in the West. He owns the mines, he owngi 
vast reaches of grazing land, and the great herds of cat- 
tle.f He has also invested in many thousands of acres 
of farming lands. Railroads of immense length have been 
richly subsidized with lands which will steadily appre- 
ciate in value. These corporations bid fair to become 
much richer and more powerful than like monopolies 
in the East. The longest eastern roads would hardly 
be considered more than first-rate side-tracks out West; 
and some day the wealth and power of the western 
roads will be in proportion to their length. 

* Rev. E. P. Goodwin, D.D., Home Missionary Sermon, p. 16. 

t At a meeting of cattle " kings " in St. Louis, last November, there were 
many associations represented wMcli own half a million head of stock or 
more. The Northern New Mexico Cattle Grower's Association own 800,000 
cattle, besides a large number of horses, which graze over 15,000,000 acres 
of land. The Texas Live Stock Association own 1,000,000 cattle, 1,000,000 
sheep and 350,000 horses. A moderate estimate of their value would be 
$45,000,000. 



PERILS. SOOIALISM. ^ 111 

There was no immense dispai-ity of fortune between 
the early settlers of the East. They started pretty 
evenly in the race, and it has taken several generations 
to develop the wide extremes of modern society ; but 
these differences exist at the outset in the West. East- 
ern capital has emptied itself into "Western mines and 
herds and "bonanza " farms. The comparatively small 
population of the West has to-day more miUionaires 
and more 'tramps than the whole country had a few 
years siace. Many cattle and railway " kings," many 
gold and silver " kings," there rule then- subjects. And 
last August eighty tramps took possession of Castle- 
ton, Dakota, drove many families from their homes and 
committed numerous excesses. Western society is 
organized at the very beginning, on the class distinc- 
tions which are so favorable to the growth of social- 
ism. 

Modern civilization is called onto contend for its life 
with forces which it has evolved. Said President 
Seelye, last summer, to the graduating class of Amherst 
College: "There is one question of our time toward 
which all other questions, whether of nature, of man, 
or of God, steadily tend. . . . No one will be 
likely to dispute the affirmation that the social 
question is, and is to be, the question of your 
time." That question must be met in the United 
States. We need not quiet misgiving with the 
thought that popular government is our safety 
from revolution. It is because of our free institutions 
that the great conflict of socialism with society as now 
organized is likely to occur in the United States. 
There is a strong disposition among men to charge 
most of the ills of their lot to bad government, and to 
seek a political remedy for those ills. They expect in 



112 . PERILS. ^WEALTH. 

w 

the popularization of power to find relief. Constitu- 
tional government, a free press and free speech would 
probably quiet popular agitation in Russia for a gen- 
eration. The new Franchise Bill will allay restlessness 
in England for a time. If Germany should become a 
republic, we should hear little of German socialism 
for a season. But all our salve of this sort is spent ; 
there are no more political rights to bestow ; the peo- 
ple are in full possession. Here then, where there is 
the fullest exercise of political rights, will the people 
first discover that the ballot is not a panacea. Hera, 
where the ultimate evolution of government has taken 
place, will restless men first attempt to live without 
government. 

There is nothing beyond republicanism but anarch- 
ism. 



CHAPTER IX. 



PEEILS. WEALTH. 



The wealth of the United States is phenomenal. In 
1880 it was valued at $43,642,000,000 ; more than 
enough to buy the Russian and Turkish Empires, the 
kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, Denmark and Italy, 
together with Australia, South Africa and all South 
America — lands, mines, cities, palaces, factories, ships, 
flocks, herds, jewels, moneys, thrones, scepters, dia- 
dems and all — the entire possessions of 177,000,000 
people. Great Britain is, by far, the richest nation of 



PEBILS. ^^iS^^EALTH. 113 

the Old World, and oui' wealth exceeds hers by $276,- 
000,000. The most remarkable point of this compar- 
ison is the fact that Eui'opean wealth represents the 
accumulations of many centuries, while the greater 
part of oui'S has been created in twenty years. In 1860 
oui' wealth was valued at $16,160,000,000. In 1880 it 
had increased 170 per cent. During that period a mil- 
lion producers were destroyed by war, and not onlj; 
were two great armies withdi'awn from productive oc- 
cupations, but they devoted maiwelous energy and in- 
genuity to the work of destruction. Moreover, dui'ing 
the same period, slaves, whose value was estimated in 
1860 at $1,250,000,000, disappeared fi'om the assets of 
the nation. But, notwithstanding all this, our wealth, 
dui'ing those twenty years, increased $27,482,000,000 — 
$10,000,000,000 more than the entire wealth of the 
Empire of Eussia, to be divided between 82,000,000 
people. And this increase, it should be observed, was 
only a small pai't of the wealth created — the excess 
after supporting the best-fed people in the world. To 
the wealth of 1870 were added, during the next ten 
years, $19,587,000,000, an average of $260,000 every 
hour, night and day, except Sunday, or $6,257,000 
every week-day for the period. The material progress 
of the United States from 1870 to 1880 is wholly with- 
out a parallel in the history of the world. 

It is difficult to realize that the youngest of the na- 
tions is the richest, and that the richest of all nations 
has, as yet, only begun to develop its resoui'ces. Sev- 
en-eighths of oui' arable land are not under cultivation, 
and much of our agriculture is rude ; a much larger 
portion of our mineral wealth is undeveloped ; and the 
only limit which can be set to our possible manufac- 
tiu'es is the world's need. Our domestic commerce. 



114 PERILS. ^WEALTH. 

already $18,000,000,000 * a year, will double and quad- 
ruple with the growth of population. Here are thirty- 
eight nations, so to speak — and soon to be half a hun- 
dred — enjoying perfect freedom of intercourse, with 
but one language and one currency, with common in- 
terests and common institutions. In Europe, com- 
merce must run a gauntlet of custom-houses, on a score 
of frontiers, and must stumble over thrice as many 
languages ; while those nations, with conflicting inter- 
ests and mutual jealousies and antipathies, exhaust 
much of their strength in watching, foiling, and crip- 
pling each other. Europe spends annually on the 
maintenance of fleets and armies nearly $900,000,000. 
And this is but little more than one-half the actual 
cost ; for these 3,000,000 men and more are withdrawn 
from industrial pursuits in the flower of their youth. 
If the time of privates is worth seventy-five cents a day, 
and that of officers two dollars, the value of labor an- 
nually lost to Europe by her standing armies is $758,- 
978,000. In 1880, we expended on our army and navy 
$54,000,000 ; and, reckoning the time of the private 
soldier here worth a dollar and a half a day, and that 
of the officer worth four dollars, the value of the labor 
lost by our army in 1880 was only $16,000,000. That 
is, in competing with Eui'ope for wealth, our location 
is worth to us about $1,588,000,000 a year. In 1880 
our wealth was 23.93 per cent, of the wealth of all Eu- 
rope; our earnings were 28.01 per cent, of those of Eu- 
rope; and our increase of wealth was 49.28 per cent, 
of European increase. From 1870 to 1880 there was 
a decrease of wealth per caput, in Eui'ope, of nearly 3 
per cent., while here there was an increase of 39 per 
cent. If existing conditions continue, the time will un- 

* J. L. Stevens, in International Review^ Dec. 1881. 



PERILS. WEALTH. 115 

doubtedly come when tlie people of the United States 
will possess more wealth than all the nations of Eu- 
rope. Our riches, together with the power, the prob- 
lems and dangers which attend them, are to be multi- 
pUed many fold. Mr. Gladstone estimates that the 
amount of wealth that could be handed down to pos- 
terity, produced during the first 1800 years of the 
Christian Era, was equaled by the production of the 
first fifty years of this century; and that an equal 
amount was produced in the twenty years from 1850 to 
1870. This will not seem incredible, if we accept his 
further estimate that the manufacturing power of the 
world is doubled, by the aid of machinery, every seven 
years. Some thirty yeai's ago, the power of machinery 
in the mills of Great Britain was computed to be equal 
to* 600,000,000 men, Or more than all the adults, male 
and female, of mankind. Think of such a power, and 
much greater, at work for the enriching of our nation, 
and that power doubled every seven years ! It is a 
promise of unspeakable wealth. And such wealth con- 
tains mighty possibilities, both for good and evil. Let 
us, in this connection, look at the latter. 

1. As civilization increases, wealth has more mean- 
ing, and money a larger representative power. Civili- 
zation multiplies wants, which money affords the 
means of gratifying. With the growth of civilization, 
therefore, money will be an ever-increasing power, and 
the object of ever-increasing desire. Hence the dan- 
ger of ^lammonism, growing more and more intense 
and infatuated. The love of money is the besetting 
sin of commercial peoples, and runs in the very blood 
of Anglo-Saxons, who are the great wealth-creators of 
the world. Our soil is peculiarly favorable to the 
• " Emerson's Prose Works," Vol. II., p. 236. 



116 PEEILS.— WEALTH. 

growth of this " root of all evil "; and for two reasons. 
First, wealth is more easily amassed here than any- 
where else in the world, of which we have already seen 
sufficient proof ; and, second, wealth means more, has 
more power, here than elsewhere. Every nation has 
its aristocracy. In other lands the aristocracy is one 
of birth ; in ours it is one of wealth. It is useless for 
us to protest that we are democratic, and to plead the 
leveling character of our institutions. There is among 
us an aristocracy of recognized power, and that aris- 
tocracy is one of wealth. No heraldry offends our re- 
publican prejudices. Our ensigns armorial are the 
trademark. Our laws and customs recognize no noble 
titles ; but men can forego the husk of a title who pos- 
sess the fat ears of power. In England there is an 
eager ambition to rise in rank, an ambition as rarely 
gratified as it is commonly experienced. With us, as- 
piration meets with no such iron check as birth. A 
man has only to build higher the pedestal of his wealth. 
He may stand as high as he can build. His wealth can- 
not secure to him genuine respect, to be sure ; but, for 
that matter, neither can birth. It will secure to him 
an obsequious deference. It may purchase political 
distinction. It is power. In the Old World, men com- 
monly live and die in the condition in which they are 
born. The peasant may be discontented, may covet 
what is beyond his reach; but his desii'e draws no 
strength from expectation. Heretofore, in this coun- 
try, almost any laborer, by industry and economy, 
might gain a competence, and even a measure of 
wealth ; and, though now we are beginning to approx- 
imate the conditions of European labor, young men, 
generally, when they start in life, still expect to be- 
come rich ; and, thinking not to serve their god for 



PERILS. WEALTH. 117 

naught, they commonly become faithful votaries of 
Mammon. Thus the prizes of wealth in the United 
States, being at the same time greater and more easily 
won, and the lists being open to all comers, the rush is 
more general, and the race more eager than elsewhere 
"But they that will be rich, fall into temptation and 
a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which 
drown men in destruction and perdition."* They who 
" will be rich '' are tempted to resort to methods less 
laborious and more and more unscrupulous. Fierce 
competition is leading to frequent adulterations, and 
many forms of bribery. It is driving legitimate busi- 
ness to illegitimate methods. Merchants ofier prizes 
to draw trade, and employ the lottery to enrich them- 
selves and debauch the public. The growth of the 
spirit of speculation is ominous. The salaries of clerks, 
the business capital, the bank deposits and trust-funds 
of all sorts which disappear " on 'change," indicate how 
widespread is the unhealthy haste to be rich. And 
such have the methods of speculation become that 
" The Exchange " has degenerated into httle better 
than a euphemism for " gambling hell." " While one 
bushel in seven of the wheat crop of the United States 
is received by the Produce Exchange of New York, its 
traders buy and sell two for every one that comes out 
of the ground. When the cotton plantations of the 
South yielded less than six million bales, the crop on 
the New York Cotton Exchange was more than thirty- 
two millions. Pennsylvania does well to run twenty- 
four millions of barrels of oil in a year ; but New York 
City will do as much in two small rooms in one week, 
and the Petroleum Exchanges sold altogether last year 
two thousand million barrels."! Such facts indicate 

• I Tim. VI, 9. 

t Henry D. Lloyd, Xorth Ameriean Beview, Aug., 1883, p. 118. 



118 PERILS. ^WEALTH. 

how small a portion of the transactions of the *• Ex- 
change " is legitimate business, and how large a pro- 
portion is simple gambling. Mammonism is corrupt- 
ing popular morals in many ways. Sunday amusements 
of every kind — ^horse-racing, base-ball, theaters, beer- 
gardens, steamboat and railroad excursions — are all 
provided because there is money in them. Licentious 
literature floods the land, poisoning the minds of the 
young and polluting their lives, because there is money 
in it. Gambling flourishes in spite of the law, and 
actually under its license, because there is money in it. 
And that great abomination of desolation, that triumph 
of Satan, that more than ten Egyptian plagues in one 
— the liquor traffic — grows and thrives at the expense 
of every human interest, because there is money in it. 
Ever since greed of gold sold the Christ and raffled for 
his garments, it has crucified every form of virtue be- 
tween thieves. And, while Mammonism corrupts mor- 
als, it blocks reforms. Men who have favors to ask 
of the public are slow to follow their convictions into 
any unpopular reform movement. They can render 
only a surreptitious service. Their discipleship must 
needs be secret, " for fear of the " customers or clients 
or patients. It is Mammonism which makes most men 
invertebrates. When important Mormon legislation 
was pending, certain New York merchants telegraphed 
to members of Congress : " New York sold $13,000,000 
worth of goods to Utah last year. Hands off!" The 
tribe of Demetrius, the Ephesian silversmith, is every- 
where ; men quick to perceive when this then- craft by 
which they have their wealth is in danger of being set 
at naught. " Nothing is more timorous than a million 
dollars — except two millions." 

Mammonism is also corrupting the ballot-box. The 



PERILS. WEALTH. 119 

last tlii'ee presidential elections have shown that the 
two great political parties ai'e nearly equal in strength. 
The Tast majority of voters on both sides are party 
men, who vote the same way year after year. The re- 
sult of the election is determined by the floating vote. 
Of this, a comparatively small portion is thoroughly 
intelligent and conscientious ; the remainder is, for the 
most part, without convictions, without principle and 
thoroughly venal ; hence the great temptation to brib- 
ery, to which both parties yield. And if the two pai'- 
ties take distinct issue on economic questions — which 
seems likely — each believing that the success of the 
other would involve great financial disaster, corrup- 
tion money will become an increasingly important po- 
htical factor. Moreover, the influence of great corpo- 
rations, which so often controls legislation, is moneyed 
influence. That this influence is likely to be potent in 
the United States Senate may be inferred from its com- 
position. Tlie Chicago Tribune stated, last year, that 
of seventy-six senators, twenty were millionaii'es, while 
enough more were connected with great corporations 
to give control to the interests of concentrated capi- 
tal. 

2. Again, by reason of our enormous wealth and its 
rapid increase, we are threatened with a gross material- 
ism. The English epithet applied by Matthew Arnold 
to Chicago, " too beastly prosperous," has a subtile 
meaning, which perhaps was not intended by the dis- 
tinguished visitor. Material growth may be so much 
more vigorous than the moral and intellectual as to 
have a distinctly brutalizing tendency. Life becomes 
sensuous ; that is deemed real which can be seen and 
handled, weighed and transported ; and that only has 
value which can be appraised in dollars and cents 



120 



PEBILS. WEALTH. 



Wealth was intended t© minister to life, to enlarge it ; 
when life becomes only a ministry to enlarge wealth, 
there is manifest perversion and degradation. Says 

Mr. "Whipple :* " there is danger that the nation's 

worship of labors whose worth is measured by money 
will give a sordid character to its mightiest exertions 
of power, eliminate heroism from its motives, destroy 
all taste for lofty speculation, and all love for ideal 
beauty, and inflame individuals with a devouring self- 
seeking, corrupting the very core of the national life." 
We have undoubtedly developed a larger proportion of 
men of whom the above is a faithful picture than any 
other Christian nation ; men to whom Agassiz's re- 
mark, " I am offered five hundred dollars a night to 
lecture, but I decline all invitations, for I have no time 
to make money," is simply incomprehensible ; it dazes 
them. 

There is a "balance of power" to be preserved in 
the United States as well as in Europe. Our safety 
demands the preservation of a balance between our 
material power and our moral and intellectual power. 
The means of self-gratification should not outgrow the 
power of self-control. Steam-power would have been 
useless had we not found in iron, or something else, a 
greater power of resistance. And, should we discover 
a motor a hundred times more powerful than steam, it 
would prove not only useless but fearfully destructive, 
unless we could find a still greater resisting power. 
Increasing wealth will only prove the means of destruc- 
tion, unless it is accompanied by an increasing power 
of control, a stronger sense of justice, and a more in- 
telligeiit comprehension of its obligations. 

There is a certain unfriendliness between the mate- 

* " Character and Characteristic Men," p. 142. 



PERILS. WEALTH. 121 

rial and spiiitual. The vivid apprehension of the one 
makes the other seem unreal. When the life of the 
senses is intense, spiritual existence and truths are 
dim; and when St. Paul was exalted to a spiritual 
ecstasy, the senses were so closed that he could not 
tell whether he was " in the body or out of the body." 
A time of commercial stagnation is apt to be a time of 
spiritual quickening, while great material pro£;peiity 
is likely to be accompanied by spiritual dearth. A poor 
nation is much more sensitive to the power of the gos- 
pel than a rich one. So Christ taught : "How hardly 
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of 
God !" "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye 
of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the King- 
dom of God !"* "Words as true now as when they were 
fii'st uttered, and having a fuller meaning in the nine- 
teenth century than in the first. 

3. Again, great and increasing wealth subjects us to 
all the perils of luxuriousness. Nations, in their be- 
ginnings, are poor ; poverty is favorable to hai'dihood 
and industry; industry leads to thrift and wealth; 
wealth produces luxuiy, and luxuiy results in enerva- 
tion, corruption, and destruction. This is the historic 
round which nations have run. "Nations have de- 
cayed, but it has never been with the imbecility of 
age."t "Avarice and luxury have been the ruin of 
every great state." J Her American possessions made 
Spain the richest and most powerful nation of Eui'ope ; 
but wealth induced luxury and idleness, whence came 
poverty and degradation. Eome was never stronger 
in all the seeming elements of power than at the mo- 
ment of her fall. She had gi'own rich, and riches had 
cori-upted her morals, rendered her efieminate, and 
* Mark X, 23, 25. t Charles Sumner. t Livy. 



122 



PERILS. WEALTH. 



made her an easy prey to the lusty barbarian of the 
North. The material splendor of Israel reached its 
climax in the glory of Solomon's reign, in which silver 
was made to be in Jerusalem as stones ; but it was fol- 
lowed by the immediate dismemberment of the king- 
dom. Under all that magnificence, at which even 
Oriental monarchs wondered, was springing a discon- 
tent which led to speedy revolt. Bancroft has wisely 
said that " Sedition is bred in the lap of luxury." 

The influence of mechanical invention is to stimulate 
luxurious living. One man, by the aid of steam, is 
able to do the work which required two hundred and 
fifty men at the beginning of the century. The ma- 
chinery of Massachusetts alone represents the labor of 
more than 100,000,000 men ; as if one-half of all the 
male workmen on the globe had engaged in her ser- 
vice. When we remember that this machinery is an 
enormous producer of the necessaries, comforts, and 
luxuries of life, but is not a consumer of the same, we 
see how immensely the average consumption per caput 
has increased. As luxuries are thus cheapened and 
brought within the reach of an ever- widening circle, 
there is an increasing tendency toward self-indulgence. 
Herodotus said : " It is a law of nature that faint- 
hearted men should be the fruit of luxurious countries ; 
for we never find that the same soil produces delicacies 
and heroes." Is there not danger that our civilization 
will become tropical? The temperate zone has pro- 
duced the great nations, because in it the conditions of 
life have been sufficiently hard to arouse energy and 
develop strength. Where men are pampered by na- 
ture, they sink to a low level ; and where civilization is 
of the pampering sort the tendency is the same. By 
means of coal, which Mr. Emerson calls a "portable 



PEBILS. WEALTH. 1^3 

climate," together witli increasing wealth and luxuries, 
we are multiplying tropical conditions here in the 
North. 

The splendor of our riches will doubtless dazzle the 
world ; but history declares, in the ruins of Babylon 
and Thebes, of Carthage and Kome, that wealth has no 
conserving power ; that it tends rather to enervate and 
corrupt. Our wonderful material prosperity, which is 
the maiVel of other nations, and the boast of our own, 
may hide a decaying core. 

4. Again, another danger is the marked and increas- 
ing tendency toward a congestion of wealth. The 
enormous concentration of power in the hands of one 
man is unrepublican, and dangerous to popular insti- 
tutions. The framers of oui* government aimed to se- 
cure the distribution of power. They were careful to 
make the several departments — executive, legislative, 
and judicial — operate as checks on each other. An 
executive, chosen by the people and responsible to 
them, may exercise but little authority ; and after a 
short period he must retiu-n it to them. But a money- 
king may double, quadruple, centuple his wealth, if he 
can. He may exercise vastly more power than the 
governor of his state ; but he is irresponsible. He is 
not a constitutional monarch, but a czar. He is not 
chosen by the people with reference to his fitness to 
administer so great a trust ; he may lack utterly all 
moral qualifications for it. We have, indeed, some 
rich men who are an honor to our civilization ; but the 
power of many millions is almost certain to find its 
way into strong and unscrupulous hands. Our money- 
king must not, after two or foui* years, retiu-n his 
power to the people ; he has a life tenure of office, 
provided only his grip upon his golden scepter be 



124 PEBILS. — WEALTH. 

strong. Less than thirty years ago, Emerson wrote 
for our wonder : " Some EngHsh private fortunes reach, 
and some exceed, a million dollars a year." At least 
one American has an income of $1,000,000 a month ; 
and others follow hard after him. A list of Mr. Yan- 
derbilt's stocks, bonds, and securities, makes his aggre- 
gate wealth a little over $201,000,000. The assessed 
valuation of the aggregate property, real and personal, 
of four great states of the Union, having a territory of 
nearly 350,000 square miles, falls short of this one for- 
tune by several millions of dollars. And there are 
fourteen states which separately return less property, 
real and personal, than this modern Midas. He owns 
one two-hundred-and-eighteenth of t£e wealth of the 
nation. 

Superfluity on the one hand, and dire want on the 
other — the millionaire and the tramp — are the comple- 
ment each of the other. The classes from which we 
have most to fear are the two extremes of society — the 
dangerously rich and the dangerously poor ; and the 
former are much more to be feared than the latter. 
Says Chancellor Howard Crosby : " The danger which 
threatens the uprooting of society, the demolition of 
civil institutions, the destruction of liberty, and the 
desolation of all, is that which comes from the rich 
and powerful classes in the community." * " The 
great estates of Rome, in the time of the Caesars, and 
of France in the time of the Bourbons, rivaled those 
of the United States to-day ; but both nations were on 
then* way to the frenzy of revolution, not in spite of 
their wealth, but, in some true sense, because of it." f 
We have seen, in the preceding chapter, that mechan- 

* North American Review, April, 188;>, p. 346. 
t Editorial in Christian Union, Oct. 16tli, 1884. 



PEELLS. WEALTH. 125 

ical inveutiou tends to create operative and capitalist 
classes, and render them hereditary. It is the ten- 
dency of om- civilization to destroy the easy gradation 
from poor to rich which now exists, and to divide so- 
ciety into only two classes — the rich and the compara- 
tively poor. In a new country almost any one can do 
business successfully, and broad margins will save 
him from the results of blunders which would else- 
where be fatal. But, with growing population and in- 
creasing facilities of communication, competition be- 
comes severe, and then a slight advantage makes the 
difference between success and failure. Accumulated 
capital is not a slight, but an immense, advantage. 
"To him that hath, shall be given." There vrill, 
therefore, be an increasing tendency toward the cen- 
tralization of great wealth in corporations, which will 
simply eat up the small manufacturers and the small 
dealers. As the two classes of rich and poor grow 
more distinct, they will become more estranged, and 
whether the rich, like Sydney Smith, come to regard 
poverty as "infamous," it is quite certain that many of 
the poor will look upon wealth as criminal. 

We have traced some of the natural tendencies of 
great and increasing wealth. It should be observed 
that these tendencies will grow stronger, because 
wealth is increasing much more rapidly than popula- 
tion. Remarkable as the growth of the latter is, it be- 
ing four times the European rate of increase from 1870 
to 1880, and thi-ee times that of England or Germany, 
the multiplication of wealth has been even more re- 
markable. Since 1850, in one generation, our national 
wealth has increased more than six fold, and, notwith- 
standing the growth of population, the wealth per 
caput has increased nearly three fold. There is reason 



12C) PEBILS. WEALTH. 

to believe that this rate of increase will be sustained 
for years to come. If it is, the danger from Mammon- 
ism, materialism, luxnriousness, and the congestion of 
wealth will be a constantly increasing peril. 

It remains to be shown that the dangers of wealth 
are greater at the West than at the East. There is 
more of Mammonism there. With rare exceptions, the 
West is being filled with a selected population, and the 
principle of selection is the desire to better theii* 
worldly condition. Nineteen men of every twenty (and 
the twentieth is either an invalid or a home mission- 
ary) will tell you that they went there for the express 
purpose of making money. Where land is being rap- 
idly taken, and real estate of all sorts is rapidly appre- 
ciating in value, men make every possible present en- 
deavor with reference to the future. Under such con- 
ditions the race after wealth becomes peculiarly eager. 
The gambling spirit which always prevails in mining- 
regions exerts a wide influence, even in agricultui'al 
states. Farmers often rent land, put their entire cap- 
ital into a great acreage, and stake everything on a 
single crop. The sudden wealth often realized in the 
mines stimulates the general haste to be rich. And 
where riches are almost the sole object of endeavor, 
their possession gives greater power. In the Kocky 
Mountains a man may be to-day a caterer or bar- 
tender, fit for that and nothing more ; to-morrow, 
without any good wit of his own, a millionau-e ; next 
day, because "Mammon wins his way where seraphs 
might despair," a lieutenant-governor or United States 
senator. The demoralizing atmosphere of the New 
West is seen in the fact that there are everywhere 
church-members who seem to have left their religion 
behind when they crossed the Missouri. Many men 



PEKILS. WEALTH. 127 

who lived reputable Chiistian lives in the East are there 
swept into the great maelstrom of worldliness. 

As a comment on our gross materialism here in the 
United States, and especially in the far West, I will 
quote a short passage fi'om the note-book of the mu- 
sician, Gottschalk. Being ill for thi'ee days in a town 
in Nevada, and finding himself utterly deserted, he 
gives vent to his feelings in these words: "I defy 
your finding, in the whole of Europe, a village where 
an ai'tist of reputation would find himself as isolated 
as I have been here. If, in place of playing the piano, 
of having composed two or thi'ee hundi-ed pieces, of 
having given seven or eight thousand concerts, of hav- 
ing given to the poor one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollai's, of having been knighted twice, I had sold suc- 
cessfully for ten years quarters of salted hog, my poor, 
isolated chamber would have been invaded by adorers 
and admii-ers." 

There is more danger of luxuriousness at the West, 
a greater extravagance than among Eastern people of 
like means. Money comes faster and goes faster. 
There is Httle of that strict economy which i^ so often 
practiced at the East. A western town of ten thous- 
and inhabitants will boast of " caiTying all the style" 
of an eastern city of fifty thousand. New villages are 
likely to have more electric lights and telephones than 
many of the great cities of Europe. The milHonaires 
of the West were not many of them born to wealth. 
They have made theu' riches within a few years ; and 
such are the men to spend money freely. They be- 
come the social legislators, and help to create customs 
of free expenditure. 

The striking centrahzation of capital which has al- 
ready taken place at the West was sufficiently noticed 



128 PERILS. THE CITY. 

in the preceding chapter. Enough has been said to 
show that the West is peculiarly exposed to the dan- 
gers with which wealth threatens the nation. 



CHAPTER X. 



PERILS. THE CITY. 



The city is the nerve center of our civilization. It 
is also the storm center. The fact, therefore, that it is 
growing much more rapidly than the whole population 
is full of significance. In 1790 one-thirtieth of the 
population of the United States lived in cities of 8,000 
inhabitants and over; in 1800, one twenty-fifth; in 
1810, and also in 1820, one-twentieth ; in 1830, one 
sixteenth ; in 1840, one-twelfth ; in 1850, one-eighth ; 
in 1860, one-sixth ; in 1870, a little over one-fifth; and 
in 1880, 22.5 per cent., or nearly one-fourth.* Erom 
1790 to 1880 the whole population increased twelve 
fold, the urban population eighty-six fold. From 1830 
to 1880 the whole population increased a little less 
than four fold, the urban population thirteen fold. 
Erom 1870 to 1880 the whole population increased 
thirty per cent., the urban population forty per cent. 
During the half century preceding 1880, population in 
the city increased more than four times as rapidly as 
that of the village and country. In 1800 there were 



CompenJiUia of the Tenth Census," Part 1., pp. xxx and 8. 



PERILS. THE CITY. 



129 



only six cities in the United States which had a popu- 
lation of 8,000 or more. In 1880 there were 286. 

The city has become a serious menace to our civili- 
zation, because in it, excepting Mormonism, each of 
the dangers we have discussed is enhanced, and all are 
focalized. It has a peculiar attraction for the immi- 
grant. Our fifty principal cities contain 39.3 per cent, 
of our entire German population, and 45.8 per cent, of 
the Irish. Our ten larger cities contain only nine per 
cent, of the entii'e population, but 23 per cent, of the 
foreign. While a little less than one-third of the pop- 
ulation of the United States is foreign by birth or 
parentage, sixty-two per cent, of the population of Cin- 
cinnati are foreign, eighty-three per cent, of Cleveland, 
sixty-three per cent, of Boston, eighty-eight per cent, of 
New York, and ninety-one per cent, of Chicago.* 

Because our cities are so largely foreign, Bomanism 
finds in them its chief strength. 

For the same reason the saloon, together with the 
intemperance and the liquor power which it repre- 
sents, is multiphed in the city. East of the Missis- 
sippi there was, in 1880, one saloon to every 438 of the 
population ; in Boston, one to every 329 ; in Cleveland, 
one to every 192 ; in Chicago, one to every 179 ; in 
New York, one to every 171; in Cincinnati, one to 
every 124. Of course the demoraUzing and pauper- 
izing power of the saloons and their debauching influ- 
ence in pontics increase with their numerical strength. 

It is the city where wealth is massed ; and here are 

* The Compendium of the Tenth Census gives the number of persons, 
foreign-born, in each of the fifty principal cities, but does not give the 
native-born population of foreign parentage. We are enabled to compute 
it, however, by knowing that the total number of foreigners and their 
children of the ftrst generation is, according to the Census, 2.24 times larger 
than the total number of foreign-born. 



130 PEEELS.— THE CITY. 

the tangible evidences of it piled many stories liigh. 
Here the sway of Mammon is widest, and his worship 
the most constant and eager. Here are luxuries 
gathered — everything that dazzles the eye, or tempts 
the appetite ; here is the most extravagant expendi- 
ture. Here, also, is the congestion of wealth the se- 
verest. Dives and Lazarus are brought face to face ; 
here, in sharp contrast, are the ennui of surfeit and 
the desperation of starvation. The rich are richer, and 
the poor are poorer, in the city than elsewhere ; and, 
as a rule, the greater the city, the greater are the 
riches of the rich and the poverty of the poor. Not 
only does the proportion of the poor increase with the 
growth of the city, but their condition becomes more 
wretched. The poor of a city of 8,000 inhabitants are 
well off compared with many in New York ; and there 
are no such depths of woe, such utter and heart-wring- 
ing wretchedness in New York as in London. Kead 
in "The Bitter Cry of Outcast London," a prophecy of 
what will some day be seen in American cities, pro- 
vided existing tendencies continue: "Few who will 
read these pages have any conception of what these 
pestilential human rookeries are, where tens of thou- 
sands are crowded together amidst horrors which call 
to mind what we have heard of the middle passage of 
the slave-ship. To get into them you have to pene- 
trate courts reeking with poisonous and malodorous 
gases, arising from accumulations of sewage and refuse 
scattered in all directions, and often flowing beneath 
your feet ; courts, many of them which the sun never 
penetrates, which are never visited by a breath of fresh 
air. You have to ascend rotten staircases, grope 
your way along dark and filthy passages swarming 
with vermin. Then, if you are not driven back by 



PERILS. THE CITY. 181 

the intolerable stench, you may gain admittance to 
the dens in which these thousands of beings herd to- 
gether. Eight feet square ! That is about the aver- 
age size of very many of these rooms. Walls and ceil- 
ing are black with the accretions of filth which have 
gathered upon them through long years of neglect. 
It is exuding through cracks in the boards; it is every- 
where. . . . Every room in these rotten and reeking 
tenements houses a family, often two. In one cellar, a 
sanitary inspector reports finding a father, mother, 
three children, and four pigs. . . , Here are seven 
people Uving in one underground kitchen, and a little 
dead child lying in the same room. Elsewhere is a 
poor widow, her three childi'en, and a child who had 
been dead thirteen days.* Her husband, who was a 
cabman, had shortly before committed suicide. . . 
In another apartment, nine brothers and sisters, from 
twenty-nine years of age downwards, live, eat, and 
sleep together. Here is a mother who tm-ns her chil- 
dren into the street in the early evening, because she 
lets her room for immoral purposes until long after 
midnight, when the poor little wretches creep back 
again, if they have not found some miserable shelter 
elsewhere. ^Tiere there are beds, they are simply 
heaps of dirty rags, shavings, or straw; but for the 
most part these miserable beings find rest only upon 
the filthy boards. . . . There ai'e men and women 
who He and die, day by day, in theii' wretched single 
rr jm, shai'ing all the family trouble, enduring the hun- 
ger and the cold, and waiting, without hope, without a 
single ray of comfort, until God curtains their staring 
eyes with the merciful film of death."! Says the 

* The investigations here reported were made in the summer. 
t " The Bitter Cry of Outcast London," pp. 3, 4, 10. 



132 PERILS. THE CITY. 

writer : " So far from making the most of om- facts for 
the purpose of appealing to emotion, we have been 
compelled to tone down everything, and wholly to 
omit what most needs to be known, or the ears and 
eyes of onr readers would have been insufferably out- 
raged. Indeed, no respectable printer would print, 
and certainly no decent family would admit, even the 
driest statement of the horrors and infamies dis- 
covered in one brief visitation from house to house." 
Such are the conditions under which hundreds of 
thousands live in London. So much space is given to 
this picture, only because London is a future New 
York, or Brooklyn, or Chicago. It gives a very dim 
impression of what may exist in a great city side by 
side with enormous wealth. Is it strange that such 
conditions arouse a blind and bitter hatred of our 
social system ? 

Socialism not only centers in the city, but is almost . 
confined to it ; and the materials of its growth are 
multiplied with the growth of the city. Here is heaped 
the social dynamite ; here roughs, gamblers, thieves, 
robbers, lawless and desperate men of all sorts, congre- 
gate ; men who are ready on any pretext to raise riots 
for the purpose of destruction and plunder; here 
gather foreigners and wage-workers ; here skepticism 
and irreligion abound ; here inequality is the greatest 
and most obvious, and the contrast between opulence 
and penury the most striking ; here is suffering the 
sorest. As the greatest wickedness in the world is 'o 
be found not among the cannibals of some far oft 
coast, but in Christian lands where the light of truth is 
diffused and rejected, so the utmost depth of wretched- 
ness exists not among savages, who have fer/ wants, 
but in great cities, where, in the presence of plenty and 



PEEILS. THE CITY. 133 

of every luxuiy men starve. Let a man become the 
owner of a home, and he is much less susceptible to 
socialistic propagandism. But real estate is so high in 
the city that it is almost impossible for a wage-worker 
to become a householder. The law in New York re- 
quires a jiu'or to be owner of real or personal property 
valued at not less than two hundred and fifty dollars ; 
and this, the Commissioner says, relieves seventy thous- 
and of the registered voters of New York City from 
jury duty. Let us remember that those seventy thous- 
and voters represent a population of two hundred and 
eighty thousand, or fifty-six thousand families, not one 
of which has property to the value of two hundred and 
fifty dollars. " Dui^ing the past thi-ee years, 220,976 
persons in New York have asked for outside aid in one 
form or another.''* Said a New York Supreme Judge, 
not long since : " There is a large class — I was about 
to say a majority — of the population of New York and 
Brooklyn, who just live, and to whom the rearing of 
two or more children means inevitably a boy for the 
penitentiary, and a girl for the brothel, "f Under such 
conditions smolder the volcanic fires of a deep discon- 
tent. 

"We have seen how the dangerous elements of our civ- 
iUzation are each multiplied and all concentered in the 
city. Do we find there the conservative forces of so- 
ciety equally numerous and strong? Here are the 
tainted spots in the body-politic ; where is the salt ? In 
1880 there was in the United States one Evangelical 
chui-ch organization to every 516 of the population. In 
Boston there is one chui'ch to every 1,600 of the popu- 
lation ; in Chicago, one to 2,081 ; in New York, one to 

• Mrs. J. S. Lowell, in The Christian UnioUj March 26tli, 1885. 
t Henry George's " Social Problems," p. 98. 



134 PERILS. THE CITY. 

2,468; in St. Louis, one to 2,800. The city, where 
the forces of evil are massed, and where the need of 
Christian influence is pecuHarly great, is from one- 
third to one-fifth as well supplied \a ith churches as the 
nation at large. And church accommodations in the 
city are growing more inadequate every year. Includ- 
ing church organizations of all sorts, Chicago had in 
1840 one church to every 747 of the population. In 
1851, there was one to every 1,009; in 1862, one to 
1,301; in 1870, one to 1,599; in 1880, one to 2,081. I 
am not aware that the case of Chicago is exceptional. 
In that city " There is a certain district, of which a 
careful examination has been made; and in that dis- 
trict, out of a population of 50,000, there are 20,000 
under twenty years of age, and there are Sunday- 
school accommodations for less than 2,000; that is. 
over 18,000 of the children and youth are compelled to 
go \^ithout the gospel of Jesus Christ, because the 
Christian churches are asleep. Mr. Gates says: 
* What wonder that the polioe arrested last year 7,200 
boys and girls for various petty crimes ?' The devil 
cares for them. There are 261 saloons and dago shops, 
three theaters and other vile places, and the Christian 
church offers Sunday-school accommodation to only 
2,000 !"* The writer has found similar destitution in 
the large cities of Ohio. And the statistics given above 
indicate that in the large cities generally it is common 
to find ex' ensive districts nearly or quite destitute of the 
gospel. South of Fourteenth street. New York, there is 
a population of 541,000, for whom there is but one 
Protestant church to every 5, 000 souls. That is, here 
are half a million people only one-tenth as well sup- 
plied with moral and Christian influences as the whole 

* Rev. II. A. Schauflier's Addrosa at Saratoga, June. 1884, 



PERILS. THE CITY. 135 

country at large. There are wards in New York and other 
large cities where there is but one Protestant church to 
every ten or fifteen thousand souls: which means that those 
wards are from one-twentieth to one-thirtieth as well sup- 
plied with churches as the whole land. In Ohio, even includ- 
ing the cities, more than one-fifth of the population is in 
Evangelical churches; in Cincinnati, by the latest estimate 
of the population, only one in twenty-three. 

If moral and religious influences are peculiarly weak 
at the point where our social explosives are gathered, 
what of city government ? Ai*e its strength and purity 
so exceptional as to insui-e the effective control of these 
dangerous elements ? In the light of notorious facts, 
the question sounds satirical. It is commonly said in 
Eui'ope, and sometimes acknowledged here, that the 
government of large cities in the United States is a 
failure. " In all the great American cities there is to- 
day as cleai'ly defined a ruling class as in the most 
aristocratic countries in the world. Its members caiTy 
wards in their pockets, make up the slates for nominat- 
ing conventions, distribute offices as they bargain to- 
gether, and — though they toil not, neither do they 
spin — wear the best of raiment and spend money lav- 
ishly. They are men of power, whose favor the am- 
bitious must court, and whose vengeance he must 
avoid. Who are these men ? The wise, the good, the 
learned — men who have earned the confidence of theii' 
fellows-citizens by the purity of their lives, the splen- 
dor of their talents, their probity in public trusts, their 
deep study of the problems of government?' No; 
they ai*e gamblers, saloon-keepers, pugilists, or worse, 
who have made a trade of controlling votes and of 
buying and selling offices and official acts."t It has 
t '' Progfress and Poverty." d. S82, 



136 PERILS. THE CITY. 

come to this, that holding a municipal office in a large 
city almost impeaches a man's character. Known in- 
tegrity and competency hopelessly incapacitate a man 
for any office in the gift of a city rabble. In a certain 
western city, the administration of the mayor had con- 
vinced good citizens that he gave constant aid and 
comfort to gamblers, thieves, saloon-keepers, and all 
the worst elements of society. He became a candidate 
for a second term. The prominent men and press of 
both parties and the ministry of all denominations 
united in a Citizens' League to defeat him ; but he was 
triumphantly returned to office by the " lewd fellows 
of the baser sort." And now, after a desperate strug- 
gle on the part of the better elements to defeat him, 
he has been re-elected to a third term of office. 

Popular government in the city is degenerating into 
government by a "boss." During his visit to this 
country Herbert Spencer said : " You retain the forms 
of freedom ; but, so far as I can gather, there has been 
a considerable loss of the substance. It is true that 
those who rule you do not do it by means of retainers 
armed with swords ; but they do it through regiments 
of men armed with voting papers, who obey the word 
of command as loyally as did the dependents of the 
old feudal nobles, and who thus enable their leaders to 
override the general will, and make the community sub- 
mit to their exactions as effectually as their prototypes 
of old. Manifestly those who framed your Constitution 
never dreamed that twenty thousand citizens would go 
to the polls led by a 'boss.' " 

As a rule, our largest cities are the worst governed. 
It is natural, therefore, to infer that, as our cities grow 
larger and more dangerous, the government will be- 
come more corrupt, and control will pass more com- 



PERILS. THE CITY. 137 

pletely into the hands of those who themselves most 
need to be controlled. If we would appreciate the sig- 
nificance of these facts and tendencies, we must beai- 
in mind that the disproportionate growth of the city 
is undoubtedly to continue, and the number of great 
cities to be largely increased. The extraordinary 
growth of urban population dui'ing this centui'y has 
not been at all peculiar to the United States. It is a 
characteristic of nineteenth century civilization. In 
England and "Wales two-thirds of the entire popula- 
tion ai'e found in cities of 3,000 inhabitants and over, 
and the urban population is gi'owing neaiiy twice as 
rapidly as that of the country. And this growth of the 
city is taking place not only in England and Germany, 
where the increase of population is rapid, but also in 
France, where population is practically stationary, and 
even in Ireland, where it is declining. This strong 
tendency toward the city is the result chiefly of manu- 
facturers and railway communication, and their influ- 
ence will, of coui'se, continue. If the growth of the 
city in the United States has been so rapid during this 
century, while many milhons of acres were being set- 
tled, what may be expected when the settlement of the 
West has been completed ? The rapid rise in the value 
of lands will stimulate yet more the growth of the city ; 
for the man of small means will be unable to command 
a fai-m, and the town will become his only alternative. 
When the public lands are all taken, immigi'ation, 
though it will be considerably restricted thereby, will 
continue, and will crowd the cities more and more. 
This country will undoubtedly have a population of 
several hundred millions, for the simple reason that it 
is capable of sustaining that number. And it looks as 
if the lai'ger proportion of it would be urban. There 



138 PEEILS. THE CITY. 

can bcT no indefinite increase of our agricultural popu- 
lation. Its growth must needs be slow after the farms 
are all taken, and it is necessarily limited; but the 
cities may go on doubling and doubling again. Unless 
the growth of population is very greatly and unex- 
pectedly retarded, many who are adults to-day will 
live to see 200,000,000 inhabitants in the United States, 
and a number greater than our present population—- 
over 50,000,000 — ^living in cities of 8,000 and upwards. 
And the city of the future will be more crowded than 
that of to-day, because the elevator makes it possible 
to build, as it were, one city above another. Thus is 
our civilization multiplying and focalizing the elements 
of anarchy and destruction. Nearly forty years ago 
De Tocqueville wrote : " I look upon the size of cer- 
tain American cities, and especially upon the nature of 
their population, as a real danger which threatens the 
security of the democratic republics of the New World." 
_That danger grows more real and imminent every 
year. 

And this peril, like the others which have been dis- 
cussed, peculiarly threatens the West. The time will 
doubtless come when a majority of the great ^cities of 
the country will be west of the Mississippi. This will 
result naturally from the greater eventual population 
of the West ; but, in addition to this fact, what has 
been pointed out must not be forgotten, that agricul- 
ture will occupy a much smaller place relatively in the 
industries of the West than in those of the East, be- 
cause a much smaller proportion of the land is arable. 
The vast region of the Rocky Mountains will be inhab- 
ited chiefly by a mining and manufacturing population, 
and such populations live in cities. 

1. In gathering up the results of the foreofoing di!=- 



PERILS. THE CITY. 139 

cussioii of these several perils, it should be remarked 
that to preserve republican institutions requires a 
higher average intelligence and virtue among large 
populations than among small. The government of 
3,000,000 people was a simple thing compared with the 
government of 50,000,000 ; and the government of 
50,000,000 is a simple thing compared with that of 
500,000,000. There are many men who can conduct a 
small business successfully who are utterly incapable 
of managing large interests. In the latter there are 
multiphed relations whose harmony must be preserved. 
A mistake is farther reaching. It has, as it were, a 
longer leverage. This is equally true of the business 
of government. The man of only average abiHty and 
inteUigence discharges creditably the duties of mayor 
in his Httle town; but he would fail utterly at the head 
of the state or the nation. If the people are to gov- 
ern, they must grow more intelligent as the popula- 
tion and the complications of government increase. 
And a higher morahty is even more essential. As civ- 
ilization increases, as society becomes more complex, 
as labor-saving machinery is multiplied and the divis- 
ion of labor becomes more minute, the individual be- 
comes more fractional and dependent. Every savage 
possesses all the knowledge of his tribe. Throw him 
upon his own resources, and he is self-sufficient. A 
civilized man in like circumstances would perish. The 
savage is independent. Civihze him, and he becomes 
dependent; the more civilized, the more dependent. 
And, as men become more dependent on each other, 
they should be able to rely more implicitly on each 
other. More complicated and multiphed relations re- 
quire a more delicate conscience and a stronger sense 
of justice. And any failure in character or conduct 



140 PERILS. THE CITY. 

under such conditions is farther reaching and more 
disastrous in its results. 

Is our progress in morals and intelligence at all 
comparable to the growth of population? From 
1870 to 1880 illiteracy decreased. While population 
increased thirty per cent., the illiterate increased only 
ten per cent. There were in the United States, in 
1880, 1,908,801 ilHterate voters, "genuine agnostics," 
who cannot write their own name. At present, only 
one voter in six is illiterate ; but, judging from a report 
of the Senate Committee on Education, the proportion 
will soon increase. That committee estimates the 
school population of the United States at 18,000,000, 
of which number "7,500,000, or five-twelfths of the 
whole, are growing up in absolute ignorance of the 
English alphabet." The nation's illiteracy has not 
been discussed, because it is not one of the perils 
which peculiarly threaten the West ; but any one who 
would calculate our political horoscope must allow it 
great influence in connection with the baleful stars 
which are in the ascendant. But the danger which 
arises from the corruption of popular morals is much 
greater. The republics of Greece and Eome, and, if I 
mistake not, all the republics that have ever lived and 
died, were more intelligent at the end than at the be- 
ginning ; but growing intelligence could not compen- 
sate decaying morals. What, then, is our moral prog- 
ress? Are popular morals as sound as they were 
twenty, or even ten, years ago ? There is, perhaps, no 
better index of general morality than Sabbath observ- 
ance ; and everybody knows there has been a great in- 
crease of Sabbath desecration in ten years. There 
was three times as much intoxicating liquor used per 
caput in the United States in 1883 as there was in 



PERILS. THE CITY. 141 

1840. Says tlie Eev. S. W. Dike :* " It is safe to say 
that divorce has been doubled, iii proportion to mar- 
riages or population, in most of the Northern States 
within thii'ty years. Present figures indicate a still 
greater increase." And President Woolsey, speaking 
of the United States, says : j " On the whole, there can 
be little, if any question, that the ratio of divorces to 
mai'riages or to population exceeds that of any country 
in the Christian world." While the population in- 
creased thirty per cent, from 1870 to 1880, the number 
of criminals in the United States increased 82.33 per 
cent. It looks very much as if existing tendencies 
were in the direction of the dead-line of vice. The 
city, wealth, socialism, intemperance, Mormonism, 
Romanism, and immigration are all increasing more 
rapidly than the population. Are popular mor- 
als likely to improve under their increasing influ- 
ence f 

2. The fundamental idea of popular government is 
the distribution of power. It has been the struggle of 
Hberty for ages to wrest power from the hands of one 
or the few, and lodge it in the hands of the many. 
We have seen, in the foregoing discussion, that cen- 
tralized power is rapidly growing. The "boss" makes 
his bargain, and sells his ten thousand or fifty thous- 
and voters as if they were so many cattle. Centralized 
wealth is centralized power ; and the capitalist and 
corporation find many ways to control votes. The 
liquor power controls thousands of votes in every con- 
siderable city. The president of the Mormon church 
casts, say, sixty thousand votes. The Jesuits are all 
under the command of one man in Washington. The 

* Princeton Review, March, 1884, p. 170. 

t North American Review, April, 1883, p. 814. 



14:2 PERILS. THE CITY. 

Catholic vote is more or less perfectly controlled by 
the priests. That means that the Pope can dictate 
some hundreds of thousands of votes in the United 
States. Is there anything unrepublican in all this*? 
And we must remember that, if present tendencies 
continue, these figures will be greatly multiplied in the 
future. And not only is this immense power lodged 
in the hand of one man, which in itself is perilous, but 
it is wielded without the slightest reference to any 
policy or principle of government, solely in the inter- 
ests of a church or a business, or for personal ends. 

The result of a national election may depend on a 
single state ; the vote of that state may depend on a 
single city ; the vote of that city may depend on a 
" boss," or a capitaUst, or a corporation ; or the elec- 
tion may be decided, and the policy of the government 
may be reversed, by the socialist, or liquor, or Romish, 
or immigrant vote. 

It matters not by what name we call the man who 
wields this centrahzed power — whether king, czar, pope, 
president, capitalist, or boss. Just so far as it is abso- 
lute and irresponsible, it is dangerous. 

3. These several dangerous elements are singularly 
netted together, and serve to strengthen each other. 
It is not necessary to prove that any one of them is 
likely to destroy our national life, in order to show 
that it is imperiled. A man may die of wounds no one 
of which is fatal. No sober-minded man can look 
fairly at the facts, and doubt that together these perils 
constitute an array which seriously threatens our free 
institutions ; especially in view of the fact that theii* 
strength is concentrating in the West, where oui* de- 
fense is weakest. 

These dangerous elements are now working, and will 



PEBILS. THE CITY. 143 

coriiniue to work, incalculable hai'in and loss — moral, 
intellectnal; social, pecuniary. But the supreme peril, 
which will certainly come, eventually, and must proba- 
bly be faced by multitudes now living, will arise, when, 
the conditions having been fully prepared, some great 
industrial or other crisis precipitates an open struggle 
between the destructive and the conservative elements 
of society. As civilization advances, and society be- 
comes more highly organized, commercial transactions 
will be more complex and immense. As a result, all 
business relations and industries will be more sensi- 
tive. Commercial distress in any great business center 
will the more surely create wide-spread disaster. 
Under such conditions, industrial paralysis is likely to 
occur from time to time, more general and more pros- 
trating than any heretofore known. When such a 
commercial crisis has closed factories by the ten thou- 
sand, and wage-workers have been thrown out of em- 
ployment by the million ; when the public lands, which 
hitherto at such times have afiorded relief, are all ex- 
hausted ; when our urban population has been multi- 
plied several fold, and oui' Cincinnatis have become 
Chicago s, oui* Chicago s New Yorks, and our New 
Yorks Londons ; when class antipathies are deepened ; 
when socialistic organizations, armed and di-illed, are 
in every city, and the ignorant and vicious power of 
crowded populations has fully found itself ; when the 
corruption of city governments is grown apace ; when 
crops fail, or some gigantic "corner" doubles the price 
of bread ; with starvation in the home ; with idle work- 
men gathered, sullen and desperate, in the saloons ; 
with unprotected wealth at hand ; Avith the tremendous 
forces of chemistry within easy reach ; then, with the 
opportunity, the means, the Jit agents, the motive, the 



144 THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

temptation to destroy, all brought into evil conjunction, 
THEN will come the real test of our institutions, then 
will appear whether we are capable of self-govern- 
ment. 



CHAPTEK XI. 



THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, on being asked when the 
training of a child should begin, replied: "A hundred 
years before he is born." Not only should it begin 
then, it does ; for inheritance, together with that which 
necessarily accompanies it, is the great conservative in- 
fluence which perpetuates national characteristics, and 
preserves the identity of races. In the case of nations, 
education, though it may modify the results of inherit- 
ance, is, itself, for the most part, determined by in- 
heritance. What is the difference between North and 
South America ? It is the difference between the An- 
glo-Saxon race and the Spanish race. What is the 
difference between Massachusetts and Yii'ginia ? It is 
the difference between the Pilgrim and the cavalier. 
How unlike are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New 
Orleans, Montreal, and Quebec ? Keligiously, morally, 
intellectually, socially, commercially, in enterprise and 
spirit, they differ to-day pretty much as their founders 
differed generations ago. It is true of the city and 
nation as of the herb, that its seed is in itself, after 
its kind. 



THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY SETTLERS. 145 

Communities and common wealths, like men, have 
their childhood, which is the formative period. It is 
the first permanent settlers who impress themselves 
and their character on the future. Powerful influences 
may, in later years, produce important modifications ; 
but it is early influence which is farthest reaching, and 
is generally decisive. It is easier to form than to re- 
form ; easier to mold molten iron than to file the cold 
cast. 

Look at a few illustrations of the above truths. On 
the Western Reserve are two adjoining townships, 
which were settled by men of radically different char- 
acter. The southern township was founded by a far- 
seeing and devoted home missionary. He had become 
convinced that he could do more to establish Christian 
institutions on the Reserve " by one conspicuous ex- 
ample of a well organized and well Christianized town- 
ship, with all the best aiTangements and appHances of 
New England civilization, than by many years of des- 
ultory effort in the way of missionary labor." The set- 
tlers were carefully selected. None but professing 
Christians were to become land-holders. As soon as a 
few families had moved into the township, public wor- 
ship was commenced, and has ever since been main- 
tained without interruption. A chui'ch was organized 
under the roof of the first log cabin. At the center of 
the township, where eight roads meet, was located the 
church building, fitly representing the central place oc- 
cupied by the service of God in the life of the colony. 
Soon followed the school-house and the pubHc hbrary. 
And there, in the midst of the unconquered forest, only 
eight years after the first white settlement, the people, 
mindful of higher education, and true to their New 
England antecedents, planted an academy. At a very 



146 THE INFLUENCE OF EAKLY SETTLERS. 

early period several benevolent societies were organ- 
ized, and here was opened the first school for the d'^af 
and dumb in the State of Ohio. 

The northern township was first settled by an infidel, 
who seems to have given to the community not only 
his name, but, in large measui'e, his character also. He 
naturally attracted men of the same sort. He ex- 
pressed the desire that there might never be a Christian 
church in the township ; and, so far as I know, there 
has never been organized within its limits an Evangel- 
ical church. Though one of the best colleges in the 
"West was founded within five miles, I am unable to 
learn that any young man from this township has ever 
taken a college coui'se. A few* have entered profes- 
sional life, none of whom has gained a wide reputation. 
On the other hand, the southern township is widely 
known to-day for its moral and religious character, its 
wealth t and liberality, and for the exceptionally large 
number of young men and women it sends to colleges 
and seminaries. It has furnished many members of 
the state legislature and senate. It has been fruitful 
of ministers and educators, some of whom have gained 
a national reputation. From this little village of a few 
hundred inhabitants have gone forth men to college 
professorships east and west, to the Supreme Bench of 
the statp, and to the United States Congress. The 
general character of these two townships was fixed at 
the beginning of the century. Their founders placed 
a stamp upon them which abides. 

* I can gain definite knowledge of only seven, thougti it is quite likely 
there have been more. 

t Though the northern township had the advantage of a better soi',the 
assessed valuation of real and personal property in the southern now ex- 
ceeds that of the other by flfty-six per cent, Godliness is profitable 1 *he 
life that now is. 



THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY SETTLERS. 147 

The town of Boscawen, New Hampsliire, was settled 
in 1734, by a colony of Massachusetts people. Scarcely 
were they settled, when they took steps to secure 
'* som3 suitable man and a Christian learned" to preach 
the gospel. The original stock was good, and the for- 
mative influences were Chiistian. We now find that 
its collegiate and professional record contains more 
than 130 names, among which there are those of two 
missionaries, six journalists, twenty- one lawyers, thirty- 
five physicians, and forty-two ministers. From this 
town came General John A. Dix, Professor Moses Far- 
mer,. John P. Farmer, William Pitt Fessenden, Nathaniel 
Green, Colonel Thomas Gordon Green, Daniel Webster, 
and Ezekiel Webster. 

When Northampton, Massachusetts, was settled, in 
1654, it was " way out west" on the frontier. Among 
the early settlers in the then wilderness, who shaped 
the character and history of the town, were the Aliens, 
Bartletts, Bridgmans, Clapps, Dwights, ElHotts, Haw- 
leys, Kings, Lymans, Mathers, Parsons, Stoddai'ds. 
Strongs, Tappans, and Wrights. The town early be- 
came distinguished for its marked religious character 
and its educational advantages. For a century and a 
quarter the entire population, save the very old and 
the very young, the sick and theii' attendants, were 
found in the church every Sabbath. In 1735, duiing 
the pastorate of Jonathan Edwards, over 600, out of a 
population of 1,100, were members of the church. For 
seven generations the impress given by the early set- 
tlers has remained. Their influence upon the commu- 
nity, and that of the community upon the state and the 
nation, may be, in some measui-e, estimated from the 
following record.* Among the natives and residents 
* " Northampton Antiquities," by Rev. Soionion Clark, 



14:8 THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

of the town are about 354 college graduates, besides 
fifty-six graduates of other institutions, one hundred 
and fourteen ministers, eighty-four ministers' wives, 
ten missionaries, twenty-five judges, about one hun- 
dred and two lawyers, ninety-five physicians; one hun- 
dred and one educators, including seven college presi- 
dents and thirty professors, twenty-four editors, six 
historians, and twenty-four authors, among whom ar« 
George Bancroft, John Lothrop Motley, Professor 
W. D. Whitney, and J. G. Holland ; thirty-eight offi- 
cers of state, among them two governors, two secre- 
taries of the Commonwealth, seven senators, and eigh- 
teen representatives ; twenty-one army officers, includ- 
ing six colonels and two generals ; twenty-eight offi- 
cers of the United States, among them a Secretary of 
the Navy, two Foreign Ministers, a Treasurer of the 
United States, five senators, eight members of Con- 
gress, and one President. 

If a community produces or fails to produce good 
citizens and able men, the records of the founders will 
rarely fail to afford an explanation, for the influence of 
the early settlers continues operative until their de- 
scendants are displaced by some other stock. It is 
true the glory is departing from many a New England 
village, because men, alien in blood, in religion, and in 
civilization, are taking possession of homes in which 
were once reared the descendants of the Pilgrims. 
But the fact that the character of New England is un- 
dergoing important changes is no proof that the im- 
press now being given to the new communities of the 
West will not be permanent. There is no likelihood 
that the foreign immigration now pouring in upon us 
is ever to be supplanted by another stock. Instead, it 
will be reinforced until there is an equalization of pop- 



THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY SETTLERS. 149 

Illation between the Old World and the New, and then 
it will cease. Beyond a peradventure, the character, 
and hence the destiny, of the great West, for centuries 
to come, is now being determined. 

'' I hear the tread of pioneers, 
Of nations yet to be ; 
The first low wash of waves, where soon 
Shall roll a human sea. 

" The rudiments of empire here 
Are plastic yet, and warm ;, 
The chaos of a mighty world 
Is rounding into form." 

What the final form of that western world is likely 
to be, we may infer from the forces which are at work 
shaping it. How do they compare with the influences 
which molded New England institutions? The Pil- 
grim fathers sought these shores not simply as refu- 
gees, but also as missionaries. "A great hope and 
inwai'd zeal they had of laying some good foundation 
(or, at least, to make some way thereunto) for propa- 
gating and advancing the Gospel of the Kingdom of 
Chiist in those remote parts of the world." They 
came not for gold ; but for conscience sake and soul's 
sake. The early settlers of New England were suf- 
ficiently homogeneous to enable them to labor har- 
moniously and successfully to make religion, learning, 
liberty and law, the four corner-stones of their civiliza- 
tion. New England ideas gave form to the national 
government, and shaped the institutions of the Mid- 
dle States ; but does any one suppose they are domi- 
nant to-day in the great teiTitories of the West ? Is 
there no danger that an alien and materialistic civiliza- 
tion will spiing up in the Eocky Mountains and beyondt 

The population of the frontier is thoroughly hetero- 
geneous. In a town in Montana of about 7,000 inhabi- 



150 THE IKFLUENCE OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

tants, a religious census discovered, in addition to the 
usual Protestant sects, evangelical and otherwise, 3,000 
Catholics, several members of the Greek church, three 
Mohammedans and 360 Buddhists. In a single con- 
gregation there were representatives of fifteen states 
of the Union, scattered from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
cific, and the following nationalities : German, French, 
T+alian, English, Scotch, Irish, Welsh, Norwegian, 
Swedish, Greek and Eussian, besides a native of 
Alaska. The West is being settled by well-nigh every 
variety of race, representing every type of religion and 
irreligion — peoples diiferent in antecedents, language, 
customs, habits, ideas and character. The one thing 
in which a frontier population agrees is the universal 
and unbending purpose to make money. 

We have already seen that the West is peculiarly 
exposed to the dangers of Mammonism, materiahsm, 
luxuriousness and the centralization of wealth; that 
conditions are exceptionally favorable to the spread of 
socialism ; that the relative power of the saloon is two 
and a half times greater in the far West than in the 
East ; that Mormonism is rapidly growing ; that 
Eomanism, as compared with the population, is about 
three times as strong in the territories as in the whole 
United States; and that into the West is pouring 
seventy-five per cent, of immigration. These forces of 
evil, which are severely trying the established institu- 
tions of the East, are brought to bear with increased 
power upon the plastic and formative society of the 
West. It is like subjecting a child to evil influences, 
for resistance to which the full strength of mature 
years is none too great. 

We have seen (Chap. IV.) that nearly aU of the per- 
ils which have been discussed are greatly enhanced 



THE INTLUENCE OF EAKLY SETTLERS. 151 

by the presence of tlie foreign element. It is of tiie 
utmost significance that this element constitutes so 
large a proportion of the settlers who are now shaping 
the future of the gi'eat commonwealths of the West. 
Those of foreign birth or extraction * were, in 1880, 
38.2 per cent, of the population of Washington Terri- 
tory. Of Montana, they constituted 48.8 per cent, of 
the population ; of Wyoming, 50.5 per cent.; of Utah, 
51.9 per cent.; of Idaho, 53.2 per cent.; of Arizona, 
55.2 per cent.; of Dakota, 66.5 per cent.; of the State 
of Nebraska, 43.5 per cent.; of California, 59.9 per 
cent.; of Nevada, 63.3 per cent., and of Minnesota, 
71.6 per cent. Not including Alaska, New Mexico, or 
the Indian Territory, 53.9 per cent, of the population 
of the territories was, in 1880, of foreign birth or ex- 
traction. The population of New Mexico, though al- 
most wholly native, is essentially foreign — foreign in 
race, language, education (or rather the lack of it), in 
religious ideas, habits and character. It is much more 
difficult to assimilate than any of the European races. 
The same is true of the population of the Indian Ter- 
ritor)'. Counting these peoples, then, as foreign, 66 
per cent, of the population of the territories is of for- 
eign birth or extraction ; and these territories include 
nearly ,44 per cent, of all the land between the IMissis- 
sippi and Alaska. If we add California, Colorado, Min- 
nesota, Nebraska, Nevada and Oregon, these states, 
together with the territories, constitute nearly two- 
thirds of all the West, and 58.9 per cent, of their in- 
habitants are of foreign extraction or birth. 

We have seen that dangerous influences are being 

• By foreign extraction is meant natives, one or both of whose parents 
were foreign-bom. See " Compendium of Tenth Census," Part II, pp. 1408 
and 1409. 



152 THE INFLUENCE OF EAELY SETTLEES, 

brought to bear upon the new settlements of tlie West 
with peculiar power. Are the neutralizing and saving 
influences of the Christian religion equally strong? 
According to Dr. Dorchester, the evangelical chiirch 
membership of the United States in 1880, was one- 
fifth of the entire population ; but in Oregon, the same 
year, only one in eleven of the population was in some 
evangelical church ; in Dakota, one in twelve ; in 
Washington, one in sixteen ; in California and Colora- 
do, one, in twenty; in Idaho, one in thii'ty- three ; in 
Montana, one in thirty-six ; in Nevada, one in forty- 
six; in Wyoming, one in eighty-one; in Utah, one in 
^124: ; in New Mexico, one in 657 ; in Arizona, one in 
685. 

If, as Milton says, "Childhood shows the man as 
morning shows the day," what will be the manhood of 
the West, unless the churches of the East are speedily 
aroused to some appreciation of theu' opportunity and 
their obligation? 

Important changes are taking place in the East and 
South, but they do not possess the almost boundless 
significance which attaches to beginnings. East of 
the Mississippi, state constitutions and laws were 
formed long since ; society is no longer chaotic, it has 
crystallized ; religion has its recognized institutions 
which are thoroughly established. A vast work remains 
to be done, especially in the South and the cities of 
the North — a work which sustains important relations 
to our national welfare ; but it is the West, not the 
South or the North, which holds the key to the nation's 
future. The center of population, of manufactures, of 
wealth, and of political power is not moving south, but 
west. The Southern States will never have a majority 
of our population; the West will. To-day, the consti- 



THE mFLUENCE OF EAELY SETTLERS. 158 

tutious and laws of many of the futm-e states of om- 
western empii*e ai-e unformed. Those great territo- 
ries, as Edmund Burke once said of the nation, are yet 
"in the gristle "; society is still chaotic ; religious, ed- 
ucational and political institutions are embryonic ; but 
theii* character is being rapidly fashioned by the swift, 
impetuous forces of intense western life. "Know thy 
opportunity." 



CHAPTER XII, 

THE EXHAUSTION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

Thomas Carlyle once said to an American : " Ye may 
boast o' yer dimocracy, or any ither 'cracy, or any kind 
o' poleetical roobish ; but the reason why yer laboring 
folk ai'e so happy is thoth ye have a vost deal o' land 
for a verra feio peopled Cai'lyle was not the man to 
take an unprejudiced view of republican iastitutions; 
but he was not mistaken in finding great significance 
in the fact that heretofore oui^ land has been vastly 
greater than its population. The rapid accumulation 
of our wealth, our comparative immunity from the con- 
sequences of unscientific legislation, our financial elas- 
ticity, our high wages, the general welfare and content- 
ment of the people hitherto have all been due, in very 
large measui-e, to an abundance of cheap land. AMien 
the supply is exhausted, we shall enter upon a new era, 
and shall more rapidly approximate Eui-opean condi- 
tions of life. The gravity of the change was clearly 



154 THE EXHAUSTION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

foreseen by Lord Macaulay, and expressed in his well- 
known letter to Hon. H. S. Randall, in 1857 — a letter 
which General Garfield said startled him " like an alarm 
bell in the night." "Your fate," says Macaulay, "I 
believe to be certain, though it is deferred by a phys- 
ical cause. As long as you have a boundless extent of 
fertile and unoccupied land, your laboring population 
will be far more at ease than the laboring population 
of the Old World. . . . But the time will come 
when New England will be as thickly peopled as Old 
England. Wages will be as low, and will fluctuate as 
much with you as with us. You will have your Man- 
chesters and Birminghams. ^nd in those Manchesters 
and Bii'minghams hundreds of thousands of artisans 
will assuredly be some time out of work. Then your 
institutions will be fairly brought to the test. . . 
Through such seasons the United States will have to 
pass in the course of the next century, if not of this. I 
wish you a good deliverance. But my reason and my 
wishes are at war, and I cannot help foreboding the 
worst." 

What is the extent of these public lands whose oc- 
cupation means so much ? The public domain west of 
the Mississippi, not including Alaska, is estimated to 
have been, in 1880, 880,787,746 acres.* This includes 

* The following table, showing the location of public lands, is compiled 
from " Spaulding on Public Lands," pp. 6, 7. 

Surveyed and Unsurveytd. 

Unsold Acres. Acres. 2'otal. 

Arizona 1,561,231 67,098,366 68,659,597 

Arkansas 4,620,120 .... 4,62 ',120 

California 25,250,680 48,643,592 73,894,272 

Colorado 20,489,312 40,657,670 61,146,982 

Dakota 12,225,492 71,422,103 83,647,595 

Idaho 3,925,237 47,7 9,H68 51,6C4,605 

Indian Territory 17,150,250 17^150,250 

Kansas 28,049,731 .... 28,049,731 



THE EXHAUSTION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 155 

land necessary to fill railroad grants, estimated at 110,- 
000,000 acres, also private land claims estimated* at 
80,000,000 acres, together with military and Indian res- 
ervations estimated at 157,356,952 acres. Supposing 
all of the military and Indian reservations to revert to 
the public domain save 57,000,000 acres, there remained 
of the public lands west of the IMississippi, in 1880, yet 
to be disposed of, about 633,787,746 acres. This seems 
an almost inexhaustible suj^ply, but we must remember 
the magnitude of the demand. In 1881, the govern- 
ment parted with 10,893,397 acres ; in 1882, 14,309,- 
166 ; in 1883, 19,430,032 ; and in 1884, 27,531,170— a 
sUce considerably larger than the State of Ohio, in a 
single year, and a total in the four yeai's of 72,163,765 
acres, leaving in the hands of the government at the 
present time about 561,623,981 acres. Not only is the 
amount annually dis]3osed of enormous, but, as we 
have seen, it is very rapidly increasing. Even if the 
increase should cease, the demand for 1884, steadily 
continued, would exhaust the supply in twenty years. 
It must not be forgotten that these 561,000,000 acres 
include the great mountain ranges, and all the baiTen 
lands. Only a comparatively small portion is arable. 
The farming lands of the West, therefore, will all be 

Louisiana 2,130,000 .... 2,130,000 

Minnesota 13,383,813 13,510,423 26,894,236 

Missouri 1,000,000 .... 1,000,000 

Montana, 5,TT9,452 80,651,676 86,431,128 

Nebraska. 23,958,652 7,052,201 31,010,859 

Nevada 8,337,671 58,436,598 66,774,269 

New Mexico 6,042,409 67,024,990 73,0 37,399 

Oregon 12,906,700 37,908,340 50,815,040 

IJtatl 5,635,054 44,282,680 49,967,734 

Washington 9,088,338 28,836,985 37,925,323 

Wyoming 5,645,121 53,381,485 59,026,606 

Public Land strip '. 6,912,000 6,912,000 

Grand total. 880,787,746 

* George W. Spaulding. 



156 THE EXHAUSTION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

taken before the close of this century. And under 
private ownership they will appreciate in value with 
the increase of population. Senator Wade, of Ohio, 
predicted, in the United States Senate, some twenty 
years ago, that, by 1900, every acre of good agricultural 
land in the Union would be worth at least fifty dollars. 
However that may be, it is certain our wide domain 
will soon cease to palHate popular discontent, because 
it will soon be beyond the reach of the poor. 

But the settlement of the public lands has a further 
and even deeper significance. The first permanent 
settlers, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, im- 
press their character on the community and common- 
wealth for generations and centuries ; and this abiding- 
stamp is to be given to the great West in the course of 
the next fifteen or twenty years. True, the land is not 
settled as rapidly as it is disposed of by the govern- 
ment. Many acres have passed into the hands of 
wealthy syndicates or individual capitalists, and are 
held by them for a rise in value ; but this can delay 
actual settlement for a short time only, and does not 
modify the general statement that the great West is to 
be settled by this generation. Robert Giffen, Presi- 
dent of the London Statistical Society, in an address 
on "World Crowding,"* after following several lines of 
reasoning to the same conclusion, says: "Whatever 
way we may look at the matter, then, it seems certain 
that, in twenty-five years' time, and probably before 
that date, the limitation of area in the United States 
will be felt. There will be no longer vast tracts of 
virgin land for the settler. The whole available area 
will be peopled agriculturally, as the Eastern States 
are now peopled." Suppose the entire region west of 
"""" * " Topics of tne Time." Vol. L, No. 1, p. 36. 



THE EXHAUSTION OF THE PUBLIC LAND3. 157 

the lyississippi — uot excepting bald mountains and 
alkaline deserts — were divided into townships six 
miles square. From 1870 to 1880 the transmississippi 
population increased a little more than sixty-one per 
cent.* If that ratio of increase is sustained to the 
close of the centuiy (and there is abundant reason to 
believe that it will rise), in 1900 there will be a popu- 
lation of 30,165,000 — sufficient, if it were evenly dis- 
tributed, to i^lace 530 souls in every township west of 
the great river. The natui'al distribution of such a 
population would manifestly result in the settlement 
of all the habitable regions. Consider the location of 
the unoccupied land. It is not a vast island, like Aus- 
tralia, separated by thousands of miles from its soui'ces 
of population. It lies close to one of the greatest peo- 
ples on the earth ; and not on oui- north or south, but 
on oiu' west, which is important, because great migra- 
tions move along lines of latitude. Moreover, this 
great teiTitory is gridii'oned with transcontinental 
railways. Every cii'cumstance favors its rapid occupa- 
tion. 

We must note, also, the order of settlement. In the 
iVIiddle States the farms were first taken, then the 
town sprung up to supply their wants, and at length 
the railway connected it with the world; but in the 
West the order is reversed — first the railroad, then the 
town, then the farms. Settlement is, consequently, 
much more rapid, and the city stamps the country, in- 
stead of the country's stamping the city. It is the 
cities and towns which will frame state constitutions, 
make laws, create public opinion, establish social 

* During the same period the average per cent, of increase of population 
in all the states of the Union was 29— in the territories, 7T. Idaho increased 
117 percent., Wyoming, 127, Washington, 213, Arizona, 318, Dakota, 853. 



158 THE EXHAUSTION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

usages, and fix standards of morals in the West. The 
character of the West will, therefore, be substantially 
determined some time before the land is all occupied. 

In 1880, fifty-three per cent, of our national domain 
(not including Alaska) contained only six per cent, of 
our population. That is, one-half of our territory was, 
for the most part, uninhabited. The character of this 
vast region, equal in area to Great Britain, France, 
Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Norway and Sweden, 
together with a dozen of the smaller European states, 
is to be determined during the last twenty years of the 
century. Suppose all of Western Europe were prac- 
tically uninhabited, that to-day the pioneer were pitch- 
ing his tent by the Thames and the Seine, and building 
his log cabin on the banks of the Tiber. He takes with 
him not the rude implements of centuries ago, but the 
locomotive, the telegraph, the steam-press, and all the 
swift appliances of modern civilization. Suppose the 
countries named above were all to be settled in twenty 
years ; that, instead of the slow evolutions of many 
centuries, their political, social, religious, and educa- 
tional institutions were to be determined by one gen- 
eration ; that from this one generation were to spring a 
ci^'ilization, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter, 
full-grown and fully equipped. What a period in the 
world's history it would be, unparalleled and tremen- 
dous! Yet such a Europe is being created by this 
generation west of the Mississippi. And within the 
bosom of these few years is folded not only the future 
of the mighty West, but the nation's destiny ; for, as 
we have seen, the West is to dominate the East. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE. 159 

CHAPTER Xni. 

THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE.* 

Every race wliicli has deeply impressed itself on the 
human family has been the representative of some 
great idea — one or more — which has given direction to 
the nation's life and form to its civilization. Among 
the Egyptians this seminal idea was life, among the 
Persians it was Ught, among the Hebrews it was pu- 
rity, among the Greeks it was beauty, among the Ro- 
mans it was law. The Anglo-Saxon is the representa- 
tive of two great ideas, which ai'e closely related. One 
of them is that of civil liberty. Nearly all of the civil 
liberty in the world is enjoyed by Anglo-Saxons : the 
EngHsh, the British colonists, and the people of the 
United States. To some, like the Swiss, it is permitted 
by the sufterance of then- neighbors ; others, like the 
French, have experimented with it ; but, in modern 
times, the peoples whose love of liberty has won it, and 
whose genius for self-government has preserved it, 
have been Anglo-Saxons. The noblest races have al- 
ways been lovers of liberty. That love ran strong in 
eaiiy German blood, and has profoundly influenced the 
institutions of all the branches of the great German 
family ; but it was left for the Anglo-Saxon branch 
fully to recognize the right of the individual to him- 
self, and formally to declare it the foundation stone of 
government. 

The other great idea of which the Anglo-Saxon is the 

* It is only just to say that the substance of this chapter was given to the 
public as a lecture some three years before the appearance of Prof. Fiske'a 
"Manifest Destuiy," in Harper's Magazine, for March, 1885, which contains 
some of the same ideas. 



160 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE. 

exponent is that of a pure spiritual Christianity. It 
was no accident that the great reformation of the six- 
teenth century originated among a Teutonic, rather 
than a Latin people. It was the fire of liberty burning 
in the Saxon heart that flamed up against the absolu- 
tism of the Pope. Speaking roughly, the peoples of 
Europe which are Celtic are Catholic, and those which 
are Teutonic are Protestant ; and where the Teutonic 
race was purest, there Protestantism spread with the 
greatest rapidity. But, with rare and beautiful excep- 
tions, Protestantism on the continent has degenerated 
into mere formalism. By confirmation at a certain 
age, the state churches are filled with members who 
generally know nothing of a personal spiritual experi- 
ence. In obedience to a military order, a regiment of 
German soldiers files into church and partakes of the 
sacrament, just as it would shoulder arms or obey any 
other word of command. It is said that, in Berlin and 
Leipsic, only a little over one per cent, of the Protest- 
ant population are found in church. Protestantism on 
the continent seems to be about as poor in spiritual 
life and power as Catholicism. That means that most 
of the spiritual Christianity in the world is found 
among Anglo-Saxons and their converts ; for this is the 
great missionary race. If we take all of the German 
missionary societies together, we find that, in the num- 
ber of workers and amount of contributions, they do 
not equal the smallest of the three great English mis- 
sionary societies. The year that Congregationalists in 
the United States gave one dollar and thirty-seven 
cents jDer caput to foreign missions, the members of 
the great German State Church gave only three-quar- 
ters of a cent per caput to the same cause.* Evident- 
* ChristUeb's " Protestant Foreign Missions," pp. 34 and 37. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WOELd's FUTURE. 161 

ly it is chiefly to the Enghsh and American peoples 
that we must look for the evangelization of the world. 

It is not necessary to argue to those for whom I 
write that the two great needs of mankind, that all 
men may be lifted up into the light of the highest 
Christian civilization, are, first, a pure, spiiitual Chris- 
tianity, and, second, civil liberty. Without contro- 
versy, these are the forces which, in the past, have con- 
tributed most to the elevation of the human race, and 
they must continue to be, in the futui-e, the most effi- 
cient ministers to its progress. It follows, then, that 
the Anglo-Saxon, as the great representative of these 
two ideas, the depositary of these two greatest bless- 
ings, sustains peculiar relations to the world's future, 
is divinely commissioned to be, in a peculiar sense, his 
brother's keeper. Add to this the fact of his rapidly 
increasing strength in modern times, and we have well 
nigh a demonstration of his destiny. In 1700 this race 
numbered less than 6,000,000 souls. In 1800, Anglo- 
Saxons (I use the term somewhat broadly to include 
all English-speaking peoples) had increased to about 
20,500,000, and in 1880 they numbered nearly 100,000,- 
000, having multiphed almost five-fold in eighty years. 
At the end of the reign of Charles II. the English 
colonists in America numbered 200,000. During these 
two hundred years, oui' population has increased two 
hundred and fifty-fold. And the expansion of this race 
has been no less remarkable than its multiplication. 
In one centuiy the United States has increased its ter- 
ritory ten-fold, while the enormous acquisition of 
foreign ten-itory by Great Britain — and chiefly within 
the last hundi'ed years — is wholly unparalleled in his- 
tory. This mighty Anglo-Saxon race, though compris- 
ing only one-fifteenth part of mankind, now rules more 



162 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLD's FUTURE. 

than one-ttiird of the earth's surface, and more than 
one-fourth of its people. And if this race, while grow- 
ing from 6,000,000 to 100,000,000, thus gained posses- 
sion of a third portion of the earth, is it to be supposed 
that when it numbers 1,000,000,000, it will lose th^ dis- 
position, or lack the power to extend its sway? 

This race is multiplying not only more rapidly than 
any other European race, but far more rapidly than all 
the races of continental Europe. There is no exact 
knowledge of the population of Europe early in the 
century ; we know, however, that the increase on the 
continent during the ten years from 1870 to 1880, was 
6.89 per cent. If this rate of increase is sustained for 
a century (and it is more hkely to fall, as Europe be- 
comes more crowded), the population on the continent 
in 1980 will be 534,000,000 ; while the one Anglo-Saxon 
race, if it should multiply for a hundred years as it in- 
creased from 1870 to 1880, would, in 1980, number 
1,343,000,000 souls ; but we cannot reasonably expect 
this ratio of increase to be sustained so long. What, 
then, will be the probable numbers of this race a hun- 
dred years hence? In attempting to answer this ques- 
tion, several things must be borne in mind. Hereto- 
fore, the great causes which have operated to check 
the growth of population in the world have been war, 
famine, and pestilence ; but, among civilized peoples, 
these causes are becoming constantly less operative. 
Paradoxical as it seems, the invention of more destruc- 
tive weapons of war renders war less destructive; 
commerce and wealth have removed the fear of famine, 
and pestilence is being brought more and more under 
control by medical skill and sanitary science. More- 
over, Anglo-Saxons, with the exception of the people 
of Great Britain, who now compose only a little more 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND 'iHE WORLDS FUTURE. 163 

than one- third of this race, are much less exposed to 
these checks upon growth than the races of Europe. 
Again, Europe is crowded, and is constantly becoming 
more so, which will tend to reduce continually the 
ratio of increase ; while nearly two-thirds of the Anglo- 
Saxons occupy lands which invite almost unhmited ex- 
pansion — ^the United States, Canada, Australia, and 
South Africa. Again, emigration from Europe, which 
is certain to increase, is chiefly into Anglo-Saxon coun- 
tries ; while these foreign elements exert a modifying 
influence on the Anglo-Saxon stock, their descendants 
are certain to be Anglo-Saxonized. From 1870 to 
1880, Germany lost 987,000 inhabitants by emigration; 
in one generation, their children will be counted 
Anglo-Saxons. This race has been undergoing an un- 
paralleled expansion dui'ing the eighteenth and nine- 
teenth centuries, and the conditions for its continued 
growth are singularly favorable. 

We are now prepared to ask what light statistics 
cast on the future. In Great Britain, from 1840 to 
1850, the ratio of increase of the population was 2.49 
per cent.; during the next ten (^ekrs it was 5.44 per 
cent.; the next ten years, it was 8.6(h and from 1870 
to 1880, it was 10.57 per cent. That is, for forty years 
the ratio of increase has been rapidly rising. It is not 
unlikely to continue rising for some time to come; 
but, remembering that the population is dense, in 
making our estimate for the next hundred years, we 
will suppose the ratio of increase to be only one-half 
as large as that from 1870 to 1880, which would make 
the population in 1980, 57,000,000. All the great 
colonies of Britain, except Canada, which has a great 
future, show a very high ratio of increase in popula- 
tion; that of Australia, from 1870 to 1880, was 56.50 



164 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE. 

per cent.; that of South Africa was 73.28. It is quite 
reasonable to suppose that the colonies, taken to- 
gether, will double their population once in twenty- 
five years for the next century. In the United States, 
population has, on the average, doubled once in twen- 
ty-five years since 1685. Adopting this ratio, then, 
for. the English colonies, their 11,000,000 in 1880 will 
be 176,000,000 in 1980. Turning now to our own 
country, we find in the following table the ratio of in- 
crease of population for each decade of years since 
1800 : 

From^ 1800 to 1810 36.38 per cent. 



u 


1810 




1820.... 


....34.80 




a 


1820 




1830.... 


....33.11 




a 


1830 




1840.... 


....32.66 




a 


1840 




1850.... 


....35.87 




a 


1850 




I860.... 


....35.58 




u 


1860 




1870.... 


....22.59 




u 


1870 




1880.... 


....30.06 





Here we see a falling ratio of increase of about one 
per cent, every ten years from 1800 to 1840 — a period 
when immigration was inconsiderable. During the 
next twenty years the ratio was decidedly higher, be- 
cause of a large immigration. It fell off during the 
war, and again arose from 1870 to 1880. Increased 
immigration is likely to sustain this high ratio of in- 
crease for some time to come. If it should continue 
for a hundred years, our population in 1980 would be 
697,000,000. But suppose we take no account of im- 
migration, leaving it to offset any unforeseen check 
upon growth, we may infer from the first forty years 
of the century that the ratio of increase would not fall 
more than about one per cent, every ten years. Be- 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLD's FUTURE. 1G5 

ginning, then, with an increase of thii-ty per cent, from 
1880 to 1890, and adopting this falling ratio of in- 
crease, our population in 1980 would be 480,000,000, 
making the total Anglo-Saxon population of the world, 
at that time, 713,000,000, as compared with 534,000,000 
inhabitants of continental Europe. And it should be 
remembered that these figures represent the largest 
probable population of Euroi^e, and the smallest prob- 
able numbers of the Anglo-Saxon race. It is not un- 
likely that, before the close of the next century, this 
race will outnumber all the other civilized races of the 
world. Does it not look as if God were not only pre- 
paring in our Anglo-Saxon civilization the die with 
which to stamp the peoples of the earth, but as if he 
were also massing behind that die the mighty power 
with which to press it ? My confidence that this race 
is eventually to give its civilization to mankind is not 
based on mere numbers — China forbid ! I look for- 
ward to what the world has never yet seen united in 
the same race ; viz., the greatest numbers, and the high- 
est civilization. 

There can be no reasonable doubt that North Amer- 
ica is to be the great home of the Anglo-Saxon, the 
principal seat of his power, the center of his life and 
influence. Not only does it constitute seven-elevenths 
of his possessions, but his empire is unsevered, while 
the remaining f oui'-elevenths are fragmentary and scat- 
tered over the earth. Australia will have a great pop- 
ulation ; but its disadvantages, as compared with North 
America, are too manifest to need mention. Our con- 
tinent has room and resources and climate, it lies in 
the pathway of the nations, it belongs to the zone of 
power, and already, among Anglo-Saxons, do we lead 
in population and wealth. Of England, Franklin once 



166 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WOKLd's EUTUEE. 

wrote : " That pretty island which, compared to Amer- 
"ica, is but a stepping-stone in a brook, scarce enough 
of it above water to keep one's shoes dry." England 
can hardly hope to maintain her relative importance 
among Anglo-Saxon peoples when her "pretty island" 
is the home of only one-twentieth part of that race. 
With the wider distribution of wealth, and increasing- 
facilities of intercourse, intelligence and influence are 
less centralized, and peoples become more homogene- 
ous ; and the more nearly homogeneous peoples are, 
the more do numbers tell. America is to have the 
great preponderance of numbers and of wealth, and by 
the logic of events will follow the scepter of controlling 
influence. This will be but the consummation of a 
movement as old as civilization — a result to which men 
have looked forward for centuries. John Adams re- 
cords that nothing was " more ancient in his memory 
than the observation that arts, sciences and empire had 
traveled westward ; and in conversation it was always 
added that their next leap would be over the Atlantic 
into America." He recalled a couplet that had been 
" inscribed, or rather drilled, into a rock on the shore 
of Monument Bay in our old colony of Plymouth : 

' The Eastern nations sink, their glory ends, 
And empire rises where the sun descends.'"* 

The brilliant Galiani, who foresaw a future in which 
Europe should be ruled by America, wrote, during the 
Revolutionary AVar, " I will wager in favor of America, 
for the reason merely physical, that for 5,000 years 
genius has turned opposite to the diurnal motion, and 
traveled from the East to the West."! Count d'Aranda. 
after signing the Treaty of Paris of 1773, as therepr©- 

* John Adams' Works, Vol. IX, pp. 59T— 599. 
t Galiani, Tome II, p. 275. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE- 167 

sentative of Spain, wrote his king : " This Federal Re- 
pubhc is born a pigmy. ... a day will come when 
it will be a giant, even a colossus formidable in these 
countries." 

Adam Smith, in his " Wealth of Nations," predicts 
the transfer of empii'e from Europe to America. The 
traveler, Burnaby, found, in the middle of the last cen- 
tury, that an idea had " entered into the minds of the 
generality of mankind, that empii'e is traveling west- 
ward ; and every one is looking forward with eager 
and impatient expectation to that destined moment 
when America is to give the law to the rest of the 
world." Charles Sumner wrote of the " coming time 
when the whole continent, with all its various states, 
shall be a Plural Unit, with one Constitution, one Lib- 
erty and one Destiny," and when ''the national ex- 
ample will be more puissant than army or navy for the 
conquest of the world." * It surely needs no prophet's 
eye to see that the ci^dlization of the United States is 
to be the civilization of America, and that the future 
of the continent is ours. In 1880, the United States 
was the home of more than one-half of the Anglo-Saxon 
race ; and, if the computations already given, are cor- 
rect, a much larger proportion will be here a hundred 
years hence. It has been shown that we have room 
for at least a thousand millions. According to recent 
figures, there is m. France a population of 180.88 to the 
square mile ; in Germany, 216.62 ; in England and 
Wales, 428.67; in Belgium, 481.71; in the United 
States — not including Alaska — 16.88. If our popula- 
tion were as dense as that of France, we should have, 
this side of Alaska, 537,000,000 ; if as dense as that of 
Germany, 643,000,000 ; if as dense as that of England 

• See The Atla.itic, Vol. 20, pp. 2T5— 306. 



168 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTUEE. 

and Wales, 1,173,000,000 ; if as dense as that of Bel- 
gium, 1,430,000,000. 

But we are to have not only the larger portion of 
the Anglo-Saxon race for generations to come, we may 
reasonably expect to develop the highest type of Anglo- 
Saxon civilization. If human progress follows a law 
of development, if 

" Time's noblest offspring is tlie last," 

oirr civilization should be the noblest ; for we are 

" The heirs of all the ages in the foremost flies of time," 
and not only do we occupy the latitude of power, but 
our land is the last to be occupied in that latitude. 
There is no other virgin soil in the North Temperate 
Zone. If the consummation of human progress is not 
to be looked for here, if there is yet to flower a higher 
civilization, where is the soil that is to produce if? 
Whipple says : * " There has never been a great mi- 
gration that did not result in a new form of national 
genius." Our national genius is Anglo-Saxon, but not 
English, its distinctive type is the result of a finer 
nervous organization, which is certainly being devel- 
oped in this country. " The history of the world's 
progress from savagery to barbarism, from barbarism 
to civilization, and, in civilization, from the lower de- 
grees toward the higher, is the history of increase in 
average longevity,! corresponding to, and accompanied 
by, increase of nervousness. Mankind has grown to be 
at once more delicate and more enduring, more sensi- 
tive to weariness and yet more patient of toil, impressi- 
ble, but capable of bearing powerful irritation ; we are 

* Atlantic for Oct., 1858. 

t " It is ascertained that the average measure of human life, in this coun- 
try, has been steadily increasing during this century, and is now considerably 
longer than in any other country." Dorchester's "Problem of Keligious 
Progress," p. '288. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE. 169 

woven of finer fiber, which, though apparently frail, yet 
outlasts the coarser, as rich and costly garments often- 
times wear better than those of rougher workman- 
ship."* The roots of civilization are the nerves ; and 
other things being equal, the finest nervous organiza- 
tion will produce the highest civilization. Heretofore, 
war has been almost the chief occupation of strong- 
races. England, during the past sixty-eight years, 
has waged some seventy-seven wars. John Bright said 
recently that, during Queen Victoria's reign, $750,000,- 
000 had been spent in war and 68,000 lives lost. The 
mission of the Anglo-Saxon has been largely that of 
the soldier ; but the world is making progress, we are 
leaving behind the barbarism of war ; as civilization 
advances, it will learn less of war, and concern itself 
more with the arts of peace, and for these the massive 
battle-ax must be wrought into tools of finer temper. 
The physical changes accompanied by mental, which 
are taking place in the people of the United States are 
apparently to adapt men to the demands of a higher 
civilization. But the objection is here interposed that 
the " physical degeneracy of Americans " is inconsist- 
ent with the supposition of our advancing to a highei 
civilization. Professor Huxley, when at Buffalo he 
addressed the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, said he had heard of the degeneration 
of the original American stock, but during his visit to 
the states he had failed to perceive it. We are not, 
however, in this matter, dependent on the opinion of 
even the best observers. During the War of the Con- 
federacy, the Medical Department of the Provost Mar- 
shal General's Bureau gathered statistics from the ex- 
amination of over half a million of men, native and 
* " Beard's American Nervousness," p. 287. 



170 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WOELd's FUTURE. 

foreign, young and old, sick and sound, drawn from 
every rank and condition of life, and, hence, fairly rep- 
resenting the whole people. Dr. Baxter's Official Ke- 
port shows that our native whites were over an inch 
taller than the English, and nearly two-thirds of an 
inch taller than the Scotch, who, in height, were supe- 
rior to all other foreigners. At the age of completed 
growth, the Irish, who were the stoutest of the for- 
eigners, surpassed the native whites, in girth of chest, 
less than a quarter of an inch. Statistics as to weight 
are meager, but Dr. Baxter remarks that it is perhaps 
not too much to say that the war statistics show " that 
the mean weight of the white native of the United 
States is not disproportionate to his stature." Ameri- 
cans were found to be superior to Englishmen not only 
in height, but also in chest-measurement and weight. 
Such facts afiord more than a hint that the higher civ- 
ilization of the future will not lack an adequate physi- 
cal basis in the people of the United States. 

Mr. Darwin is not only disposed to see, in the supe- 
rior vigor of our people, an illustration of his favorite 
theory of natural selection, but even intimates that the 
world's history thus far has been simply preparatory 
for our future, and tributary to it. He says :* " There 
is apparently much truth in the belief that the won- 
derful progress of the United States, as well as the 
character of the people, are the results of natural se- 
lection; for the more energetic, restless, and coura- 
geous men from all parts of Eiirope have emigrated 
during the last ten or twelve generations to that great 
country, and have there succeeded best. Looking at 
the distant future, I do not think that the Kev. Mr. 
Zincke takes an exaggerated view when he says \ * All 
* " Descent of Man," Part I., page 142. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE. 171 

other series of events — as that which resulted in the 
cultm-e of miud in Greece, and that which resulted iu 
the Empu'e of Rome — only appeal' to have pui-pose and 
value when viewed in connection with, or rather as 
subsidiary to, the great stream of Anglo-Saxon emi- 
gration to the West.' " 

There is abundant reason to believe that the Anglo- 
Saxon race is to be, is, indeed, already becoming, more 
effective here than in the mother country. The marked 
superiority of this race is due, in large measure, to its 
highly mixed origin. Says Rawlinson:* "It is a gen- 
eral rule, now almost universally admitted by ethnolo- 
gists, that the mixed races of mankind are superior to 
the pure ones"; and adds : " Even the Jews, who are 
so often cited as an example of a race at once pure and 
strong, may, with more reason, be adduced on the op- 
posite side of the argument." The ancient Egyp- 
tians, the Greeks, and the Romans, were all mixed 
races. Among modem races, the most conspicuous 
example is afforded by the Anglo-Saxons. Mr. Green's 
studies show that Mr. Tennyson's poetic line, 
" Saxon and Norman and Dane are we," 

must be supplemented with Celt and G^ul, Welshman 
and Ii-ishman, Frisian and Flamand, French Huguenot 
and German Palatine. What took place a thousand 
years ago and more in England again transpires to- 
day in the United States. " History repeats itself "; 
but, as the wheels of history are the chariot wheels of 
the Almighty, there is, with every revolution, an on- 
ward movement toward the goal of his eternal pur- 
poses. There is here a new commingling of races ; and, 
w^hile the largest injections of foreign blood are substan- 

• Princeton Review, for Nov., 18T8, 



172 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE. 

tially the same elements that constituted the original 
Anglo-Saxon admixture, so that we may infer the gen- 
eral type will be preserved, there are strains of other 
bloods being added, which, if Mr. Emerson's remark is 
true, that " the best nations are those most widely re- 
lated," may be expected to improve the stock, and aid 
it to a higher destiny. If the dangers of immigration, 
which have been pointed out, can be successfully met 
for the next few years, until it has passed its climax, it 
may be expected to add value to the amalgam which 
will constitute the new Anglo-Saxon race of the New 
World. Concerning our future, Herbert Spencer says : 
" One great result is, I think, tolerably clear. From 
biological truths it is to be inferred that the eventual 
mixture of the allied varieties of the Aryan race, form- 
ing the population, will produce a more powerful type 
of man than has hitherto existed, and a type of man 
more plastic, more adaptable, more capable of under- 
going the modifications needful for complete social 
life. I think, whatever difficulties they may have to 
surmount, and whatever tribulations they may have to 
pass through, the Americans may reasonably look for- 
ward to a time when they will have produced a civili- 
zation grander than any the world has known." 

It may be easily shown, and is of no small signifi- 
cance, that the two great ideas of which the Anglo- 
Saxon is the exponent are having a fuller development 
in the United States than in Great Britain. There the 
union of Church and State tends strongly to paralyze 
some of the members of the body of Christ. Here 
there is no such influence to destroy spiritual life and 
power. Here, also, has been evolved the form of gov- 
ernment consistent with the largest possible civil lib- 
erty. Furthermore, it is significant that the marked 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WOKLd's FUTURE 173 

cliai-acteiistics of this race ai'e being here emphasized 
most. Among the most striking features of the Anglo- 
Saxon is his money-making power — a power of increas 
ing importance in the widening commerce of the 
world's futui'e. We have seen, in a preceding chapter, 
that, although England is by far the richest nation of 
Europe, we have already outstripped her in the race 
after wealth, and we have only begun the development 
of our vast resources. 

Again, another marked characteristic of the Anglo- 
Saxon is what may be called an instinct or genius for 
colonizing. His unequaled energy, his indomitable 
perseverance, and his personal independence, made him 
a pioneer. He excels all others in pushing his way in- 
to new countries. It was those in whom this tendency 
was strongest that came to America, and this inherited 
tendency has been further developed by the west- 
ward sweep of successive generations across the conti- 
nent. So noticeable has this characteristic become 
that EngHsh visitors remark it. Charles Dickens once 
said that the typical American would hesitate to enter 
heaven unless assured that he could go further west. 

Again, nothing more manifestly distinguishes the 
Anglo-Saxon than his intense and persistent energy; 
and he is developing in the United States an energy 
which, in eager activity and effectiveness, is peculiarly 
American. This is due partly to the fact that Ameri- 
cans are much better fed than Europeans, and partly 
to the undeveloped resources of a new country, but 
more largely to our climate, which acts as a constant 
stimulus. Ten years after the landing of the Pilgi'ims, 
the Rev. Francis Higginson, a good observer, wrote : 
"A sup of New England air is better than a whole 
flagon of English ale." Thus early had the stimulating 



174 

effect of oui" climate been noted. Moreover, our social 
institutions are stimulating. In Europe tlie various 
ranks of society are, like the strata of the earth, fixed 
and fossilized. There can be no great change without 
a terrible upheaval, a social earthquake. Here society 
is like the waters of the sea, mobile ; as General Gar- 
field said, and so signally illustrated in his own expe- 
rience, that which is at the bottom to-day may one day 
flash on the crest of the highest wave. Every one is 
free to become whatever he can make of himself ;. free 
to transform himself from a rail-splitter or a tanner or 
a canal-boy, into the nation's President. Our aristoc- 
racy, unlike that of Europe, is open to all comers. 
Wealth, position, influence, are prizes offered for en- 
ergy; and every farmer's boy, every apprentice and 
clerk, every friendless and penniless immigrant, is free 
to enter the lists. Thus many causes co-operate to 
produce here the most forceful and tremendous energy 
in the world. 

What is the significance of such facts ? These tend- 
encies infold the future ; they are the mighty alphabet 
with which God writes his prophecies. May we not, 
by a careful laying together of the letters, spell out 
something of his meaning ? It seems to me that God, 
with infinite wisdom and skill, is training the Anglo- 
Saxon race for an hour sure to come in the world's 
future. Heretofore there has always been in the his- 
tory of the world a comparatively unoccupied land 
westward, into which the crowded countries of the 
East have poured their surplus populations. But the 
widening waves of migration, which millenniums ago 
rolled east and west from the valley of the Euphrates- 
meet to-day on our Pacific coast. There are no more 
new worlds. The unoccupied aiable lands of the eai'th 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLu's FUTURE. 175 

arw limited, aaid will soon be taken. The time is com- 
ing when the pressui-e of population on the means of 
subsistence will be felt here as it is now felt in Eui'ope 
and Asia. Then will the world enter upon a new stage 
of its history — the final competition of races, for which 
the Anglo-Saxon is being schooled. Long before the 
thousand millions are here, the mighty centrifugal 
tendency, inherent in this stock and strengthened in 
the TJnited States, will assert itself. Then this race of 
unequaled energy, with all th^ majesty of numbers and 
the might of wealth behind it — the representative, let 
us hope, of the lai'gest liberty, the purest Christianity, 
the highest civilization — ^having developed peculiarly 
aggressive traits calculated to impress its institutions 
upon mankind, will spread itself over the earth. If I 
read not amiss, this powerful race will move down up- 
on Mexico, down upon Central and South America, out 
upon the islands of the sea, over upon Africa and be- 
yond. And can any one doubt that the result of this 
competition of races will be the " survival of the fit- 
test'"? "Any people," says Dr. Bushnell, "that is 
physiologically advanced in culture, though it be only 
in a degree beyond another which is mingled with it 
on strictly equal terms, is sure to live down and finally 
live out its inferior. Nothing can save the inferior race 
but a ready and pHant assimilation. Whether the 
feebler and more abject races are going to be regen- 
erated and raised up, is already very much of a ques- 
tion. What if it should be God's plan to people the 
world with better and finer material! Certain it is, 
whatever expectations we may indulge, that there is a 
tremendous overbearing surge of power in the Christian 
nations, which, if the others are not speedily raised to 
some vastly higher capacity, wiU inevitably submerge 



176 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WOBLd'S FUTURE. 

and buiy them forever. These great populations of 
Christendom — what are they doing, but throwing 
out their colonies on every side, and populating them- 
selves, if I may so speak, into the possession of all 
countries and chmes f * To this result no war of ex- 
termination is needful ; the contest is not one of arms, 
but of vitality and of civilization. "At the present 
day," says Mr. Darwin, "civilized nations are every- 
where supplanting barbarous nations, excepting where 
the climate opposes a deadly barrier ; and they succeed 
mainly, though not exclusively, through their arts, 
which are the products of the intellect f'f Thus the 
Finns were supplanted by the Aryan races in Europe 
and Asia, the Tartars by the Russians, and thus the 
aborigines of North America, Australia and New Zea- 
land are now disappearing before the all-conquering 
Anglo-Saxons. It would seem as if these inferior 
tribes were only precursors of a superior race, voices 
in the wilderness crying : " Prepare ye the way of the 
Lord !" The savage is a hunter ; by the incoming of 
civilization the game is driven away and disappears be- 
fore the hunter becomes a herder or an agriculturist. 
The savage is ignorant of many diseases of civilization 
which, when he is exposed to them, attack him before 
he learns how to treat them. Civilization also has its 
vices, of which the uninitiated savage is innocent. He 
proves an apt learner of vice, but dull enough in the 
school of morals. Every civilization has its destructive 
and preservative elements. The Anglo-Saxon race 
would speedily decay but for the salt of Chiistianity. 
Bring savages into contact with our civilization, and 
its destructive forces become operative at once, while 

* " Chi-istian Nurture," pp. 207, 213. 
t " Descent of Man," Vol. I, p. 164. 



THE ANGLO -SAXOX AND THE WORLD'S FUTURE 177 

veai's ai'e necessaiy to render effective the saving influ- 
ences of Christian instruction. Moreover, the pioneer 
wave of our civilization carries with it more scum than 
salt. Where there is one missionary, there are hundreds 
of miners or traders or adventurers ready to debauch 
the native. ^Tiether the extinction of inferior races 
before the advancing Anglo-Saxon seems to the reader 
sad or otherwise, it certainly appears probable. I 
know of nothing except climatic conditions to prevent 
this race fi'om populating Africa as it has peopled 
North America. And those portions of Africa which 
ai'e unfavorable to Anglo-Saxon life are less extensive 
than was once supposed. The Dutch Boers, after two 
centuries of life there, are as hardy as any race on 
earth. The Anglo-Saxon has established himself in 
cUmates totally diverse — Canada, South Afi'ica, and 
India — and, through several generations, has preserved 
his essential race characteristics. He is not, of course, 
superior to climatic influences; but, even in warm 
climates, he is likely to retain his aggressive vigor long 
enough to supplant races already enfeebled. Thus, in 
what Dr. Bushnell calls "the out-populating power of 
the Chiistian stock," may be found God's final and 
complete solution of the dark problem of heathenism 
among many inferior peoples. 

Some of the stronger races, doubtless, may be able 
to preserve theii' integrity; but, in order to compete 
with the Anglo-Saxon, they will probably be forced to 
adopt his methods and instruments, his civilization 
and his rehgion. Significant movements are now in 
progress among them. While the Christian religion 
was never more vital, or its hold upon the Anglo-Saxon 
mind stronger, there is taking place among the nations 
a wide-spread intellectual revolt against traditional be- 



178 THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WOELd's FUTUEE. 

liefs. *'jLn every corner of the world," says Mr, 
Froude,* "there is the same phenomenon of the decay 
of estabhshed religions. . . . Among Moham- 
medans, Jews, Buddhists, Brahmins, traditionary 
creeds are losing their hold. An intellectual revolu- 
tion is sweeping over the world, breaking down es- 
tablished opinions, dissolving foundations on which 
historical faiths have been built up." The contact of 
Christian with heathen nations is awaking the latter to 
new life. Old superstitions are loosening their grasp. 
The dead crust of fossil faiths is being shattered by 
the movements of life underneath. In Catholic coun- 
tries, Catholicism is losing its influence over educated 
minds, and in some cases the masses have already lost 
all faith in it. Thus, while on this continent God is 
training the Anglo-Saxon race for its mission, a comple- 
mental work has been in progress in the great world 
beyond. God has two hands. Not only is he prepar- 
ing in our civilization the die with which to stamp the 
nations, but, by what Southey called the "timing of 
Providence," he is preparing mankind to receive our 
impress. 

Is there room for reasonable doubt that this race, 
unless devitalized by alcohol and tobacco, is destined 
to dispossess many weaker races, assimilate others, 
and mold the remainder, until, in a very true and im- 
portant sense, it has Anglo-Saxonized mankind *? Al- 
ready " the English language, saturated with Christian 
ideas, gathering up into itself the best thought of all 
the ages, is the great agent of Christian civilization 
throughout the world ; at this moment affecting the 
destinies and molding the character of half the human 



North American Review^ Dec, 1879. 



THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE WORLd's FUTURE. 179 

race." * Jacob Grimm, the German philologist, said 

of this language : " It seems chosen, like its people, to 

rule in future times in a still greater degree in all the 

corners of the earth." He predicted, indeed, that the 

language of Shakespeare would eventually become the 

language of mankind. Is not Tennyson's noble 

prophecy to find its fulfillment in Anglo-Saxondom's 

extending its dominion and influence^ — 

" Till the war-drum tlirobs no longer, and tlie battle-flags are f url'd 
In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world, "t 

In my own mind, there is no doubt that the Anglo- 
Saxon is to exercise the commanding influence in the 
world's future ; but the exact nature of that influence 
is, as yet, undetermined. How far his civilization will 
be materialistic and atheistic,- and how long it will take 
thoroughly to Chiistianize and sweeten it, how rapidly 
he will hasten the coming of the kingdom wherein 
dwelleth righteousness, or how many ages he may re- 
tard it, is still uncertain; but it is now being swiftly 
determined. Let us weld together in a chain the vari- 
ous links of our logic which we have endeavored to 
forge. Is it manifest that the Anglo-Saxon holds in 
his hands the destinies of mankind for ages to come? 
Is it evident that the United States is to be the home 
of this race, the principal seat of his power, the great 
center of his influence ? Is it true (see Chap. III.) that 
the great West is to dominate the nation's future? 
Has it been shown (Chapters XI. and XII.) that this 
generation is to determine the character, and hence 
the destiny, of the West ? Then may God open the 
eyes of this generation ! When Napoleon drew up his 
troops before the Mamelukes, under the shadow of the 
Pyramids, pointing to the latter, he said to his soldiers: 

' Rev. N. G. Clark, D.D. t "Locksley HalL" 



180 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

" Remember that from yonder heights forty centuries 

look down on you." Men of this generation, from the 

pyramid top of opportunity on which God has set us, 

loe look down on forty centuries I We stretch our 

hand into the future with power to mold the destinies 

of unborn millions. 

" We are living, we are dwelling, 
In a grand and awful time, 
In an age on ages telling— 
To be living is sublime !" 

Nothwithstanding the great perils which threaten it, 
I cannot think our civilization will perish ; but I be- 
lieve it is fully in the hands of the Christians of the 
United States, during the next fifteen or twenty years, 
to hasten or retsa:d the coming of Christ's kingdom in 
the world by hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of 
years. We of this generation and nation occupy the 
Gibraltar of the ages which commands the world's 
future. 



CHAPTEB XIV. 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 



Peopekty is one of the cardinal facts of our civiliza- 
tion. It is the great object of endeavor, the great 
spring of power, the great occasion of discontent, and 
one of the great sources of danger. For Christians to 
apprehend their true relations to money, and the rela- 
tions of money to the kingdom of Christ and its 



MONET AND THE KINGDOM. 181 

progress in tlie world, is to find the key to many of 
the great problems now pressing for solution. 

Money is power in the concrete. It commands 
learning, skill, experience, wisdom, talent, influence, 
numbers. It represents the school, the college, the 
church, the printing-press, and all evangelizing ma- 
chinery. It confers on the wise man a sort of omni- 
preseace. By means of it, the same man may, at the 
same moment, be founding an academy among the 
Mormons, teaching the New Mexicans, building a 
home missionary church in Dakota, translating the 
Scriptm-es in Africa, preaching the gospel in China, 
and uttering the precepts of ten thousand Bibles in 
India. It is the modern miracle worker; it has a 
wonderful multiplying and transforming power. 
Sarah Hosmer, of Lowell, though a poor woman, sup- 
ported a student in the Nestorian Seminary, who be- 
came a preacher of Christ. Five times she gave fifty 
dollars, earning the money in a factory, and sent out 
five native pastors to Christian work. When more 
than sixty years old, she longed to furnish Nestoria 
with one more preacher of Christ ; and, living in an 
attic, she took in sewing until she had accomplished 
her cherished purpose. In the hands of this conse- 
crated woman, money transformed the factory girl and 
the seamstress into a missionary of the Cross, and 
then multiplied her six-fold. God forbid that I should 
attribute to money power which belongs only to faith, 
love, and the Holy Sj^irit. In the problem of Chris- 
tian work, money is like the cipher, worthless alone, 
but multiplying many fold the value and effectiveness 
of other factors. 

In the preceding chapter has been set forth the won- 
derful opportunity enjoyed by this generation in the 



182 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

United States. It lays on us a commensiu'ate obliga- 
tion. We have also seen (Chap. IX.) that our wealth 
is stupendous- If our responsibility is without a prece- 
dent, the plenitude of our power is likewise without 
a parallel. Is not the lesson which God would have 
us learn so plain that he who runs may read it ? Has 
not God given us this matchless power that it may be 
applied to doing this matchless work ? 

The kingdoms of this world will not have become the 
kingdoms of our Lord until the money power has been 
Christianized. " Talent has been Christianized already 
on a large scale. The political power of states and 
kingdoms has been long assumed to be, and now at 
least really is, as far as it becomes their accepted ofl&ce 
to maintain personal security and liberty. Architec- 
ture, arts, constitutions, schools, and learning have 
been largely Christianized. But the money power, 
which is one of the most operative and grandest of all, 
is only beginning to be ; though with promising to- 
kens of a finally complete reduction to Chi'ist and the 
uses of His Kingdom. . . . That day, when it 
comes, is the morning, so to speak, of the new crea- 
tion."* Is it not time for that day to dawn? If we 
would Christianize our Anglo-Saxon civilization, which 
is to spread itself over the earth, has not the hour 
come for the church to teach and live the doctrines of 
God's Word touching possessions? Their general ac- 
ceptance on the part of the church would involve a ref- 
ormation scarcely less important in its results than the 
great reformation of the sixteenth century. What is 
needed is not simply an increased giving, an enlarged 
estimate of the " Lord's share," but a radically differ- 
ent conception of our relations to our possessions 
* .Bnshnell's " Sermons on Living Subjects," pp. 264, 265, 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 183 

Most Chi'istian men need to discover that they are not 
proprietors, apportioning theii* own, but simply trust- 
ees or managers of God's property. All Christians 
would admit that there is a sense in which their all be- 
longs to God, but deem it a very poetical sense, 
wholly unpractical and practically unreal. The gTeat 
majority treat their possessions exactly as they would 
treat property, use their substance exactly as if it 
were their own. 

Christians generally hold that God has a thoroughly- 
real claim on some portion of theii' income, possibly a 
tenth, more Hkely no definite proportion ; but some 
small part, they acknowledge, belongs to him, and they 
hold themselves in duty bound to use it for him. This 
low and unchristian view has sprung apparently from 
a misconception of the Old Testament doctrine of 
tithes. God did not, for the suiTender of a part, re- 
nounce all claim to the remainder. The Jew was 
taught, in language most explicit and oft-repeated, that 
he and all he had belonged absolutely to God. " Be- 
hold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the 
Lord's, thy God, and the earth also, with all that there- 
in is." (Deut. X, 14). "The earth is the Lord's, and 
the fullness thereof ; the world, and they that dwell 
therein." (Ps. xxiv, 1). "The silver is mine and the 
gold is mine, saith the Lord." (Hag. ii, 8). " Behold, 
all souls are mine ; as the soul of the father, so also 
the soul of the son is mine." (Ezek. xviii, 4). When 
the priest was consecrated, the blood of the ram was 
put upon the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, 
and the great toe of the right foot, to indicate that he 
should come and go, use his hands and powers of 
mind, in short, his entii'e self, in the service of God. 
These parts of the body were selected as representa- 



184 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

tive of the whole man. The tithe was likewise repre- 
sentative. "For, if the first fruit be holy, the lump is 
also holy." (Eom. xi, 16). Tithes were devoted to 
certain uses, specified by God, in recognition of the 
fact that all belonged to him. 



THE PRINCIPLE STATED. 

God's claim to the whole rests on exactly the same 
ground as his claim to a part. As the Creator, he must 
have an absolute ownership in all his creatures ; and, 
if an absolute claim could be strengthened, it would 
be by the fact that he who gave us life sustains it, and 
with his own life redeemed it. "Ye are not your 
own; for ye are bought with a price." (I Cor. vi, 19, 
20). Manifestly, if God has absolute ownership in us, 
we can have absolute ownership in nothing whatever. 
If we cannot lay claim to our own selves, how much 
less to that which we find in our hands. When we say 
that no man is the absolute owner of property to the 
value of one penny, we do not take the socialistic posi- 
tion that private property is theft. Because of our in- 
dividual trusts, for which we are held personally re- 
sponsible, we have individual rights touching property, 
and may have claims one agaifist another; but, be- 
tween God and the soul, the distinction of thine and 
mine is a snare. Does one-tenth belong to God ? Then 
ten-tenths are his. He did not one-tenth create us 
and we nine-tenths create ourselves. He did not one- 
tenth redeem us and we nine-tenths redeem ourselves. 
If his claim to a part is good, his claim to the whole is 
equally good. His ownership in us is no joint affair. 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. . , 185 

"We ai'e not in pai'tnership witli Idm. All that we are 
and have is utterly his, and hi§" only. 

^Vhen the Scriptm-es and reason speak of God's 
ownership in us they use the word in no accommodated 
sense. It means all that it can mean in a court of law. 
It means that God has a right to the service of his 
own. It means that, since our possessions are his 
property, they should be used in his service — not a 
fraction of them, but the whole. When the lord re- 
turned 'from the far country, to reckon with his serv- 
ants to whom he had entmsted his goods, he demanded 
not simply a small portion of the increase, but held his 
servants accountable for both principal and interest — 
" mine own with usury." Every dollar that belongs to 
God must serve him. And it is not enough that we 
make a good use of our means. We are under exactly 
the same obhgations to make the best use of our money 
that we are to make a good use of it ; and to make any 
use of it other than the best is a maladministration of 
trust. Here, then, is the principle always applicable, 
that of our entire 2^ossessions every dollar, every cent, 
is to be employed in the way that loill best honor God. 



THE PRINCIPLE APPLIED. 

The statement of this principle at once suggests 
difficulties in its appHcatiou. Let us glance at some 
of them 

1. An attempt to regulate personal expenditures by 
this principle affords opportunity for fanaticism on the 
one hand and for self-deception on the other ; but an 
honest and intelligent ajDplication of it will avoid both. 



186 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

Surely, it is right to^upply oui* necessities. But 
wliat are necessities? Advancing civilization multi- 
plies them. Friction matches were a luxuiy once, a 
necessity now. And may we allow ourselves nothing 
for the comforts and luxuries of life? Where shall we 
di'aw the line between justifiable and unjustifiable ex- 
penditure? 

The Christian has given himself to God, or, rather, 
has recognized and accepted the divine ownership in 
him. He is under obligations to apply every power, 
whether of mind, body, or possessions, to God's ser- 
vice. He is bound to make that service as efiective as 
possible. Certain expenditures upon himself are nec- 
essary to his highest growth and greatest usefulness, 
and are, therefore, not only permissible, but obliga- 
tory. All the money which will yield a larger return 
of usefulness in the world, of greater good to the 
kingdom, by being spent on ourselves or families than 
by being applied otherwise, is used for the glory of 
God, and is better spent than it would have been if 
given to missions. And whatever money is spent en 
self that would have yielded larger returns of useful- 
ness, if aj)plied otherwise, is misapplied ; and, if it has 
been done intelligently, it is a case of embezzlement. 

A narrow view at this point is likely to lead us into 
fanaticism. We must look at life in its wide relations, 
and remember that character is its supreme end. 
Character is the one thing in the universe, so far as 
we know, which is of absolute worth, and therefore 
beyond all price. The glory of the Infinite is all of it 
the glory of character. Every expenditure which 
serves to broaden and beautify and upbuild chai'acter 
is worthy. The one question ever to be kept in mind 
is whether it is the wisest application of means to the 



MONEY AND THE lUNODOM. 187 

desired end. Will this paa*ticulai- application of power 
in money produce tlie largest results in character ? 

But what of the beautiful ? How far may we gratify 
our love of it'? A delicate and difficult question to 
answ^er, especially to the satisfaction of those living in 
the midst of a luxuiious civilization. Our guiding 
principle holds here as everywhere, only its application 
is difficult. It is difficult to determine how useful the 
beautiful may be. Doubtless, at times, as Victor Hugo 
has said, "The beautiful is as useful as the useful; 
perhaps more so." The ministry of art widens with 
the increasing refinement of the nervous organization. 
There are those to whom the beautiful is, in an im- 
portant sense, a necessity. God loves the beautiful. 
Each flower would yield its seed and perpetuate its 
kind as siu'ely if each blossom were not a smile of its 
Creator. The stars would swing on in their silent, 
solemn march as true to gravitation, if they did not 
glow like mighty rubies and emeralds and sapphires. 
The clouds would be as faithful carriers of the bounty 
of the sea, if God did not paint their morning and 
evening glory from the rainbow as his palette. Yes ; 
God loves the beautiful, and intended we should love 
it ; but he does not have to economize his power ; his 
resoui'ces are not Hmited. When he spreads the splen- 
dors of the rising East, it is not at the cost of bread 
enough to feed ten thousand starving souls. Art has 
an educational value in our homes and schools and 
pai'ks and galleries; but how far may one who recog- 
nizes his Christian stewardship conscientiously go in 
the encouragement of art and the gratification of taste ? 
If every man did his duty, gave according to ability, 
there w ould be abundant provision for all Chi'istian 
and philanthropic work and substance left for the pat- 



188 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

ronage of art. But not one man in a hundred is doing 
his duty ; hence those who appreciate the necessities 
of Christian work must fill the breach, are not at lib- 
erty to make expenditures which would otherwise be 
wholly justifiable. Many expenditures are right ab- 
stractly considered. That is, would be right in an 
ideal condition of society. But the condition of the 
world is not ideal ; we are surrounded by circumstances 
which must be recognized exactly as they are. Sin 
is abnormal, the world is out of joint ; and such facts 
lay on us obligations which would not otherwise ex- 
ist, make sacrifices necessary which would not other- 
wise be binding, forbid the gratification of tastes 
which are natural, and might otherwise be indulged. 
Thi-ice true is this of us who live in this great national 
crisis and world emergency. It is well to play the 
violin, but not when Rome is burning. 

Here is a large family of which the husband and 
father is a contemptible lounger (if loafers had any 
appreciation of the eternal fitness of things, they would 
die); he does simply nothing for the support of the fam- 
ily. Exceptional cares are, therefore, laid on the wife and 
mother. She must expend all her time and strength to 
secure the bare necessaries of life for her children ; 
and with the utmost sacrifice on her part they go hun- 
gry and cold. If her wretched husband did his duty, 
she could command time and means to beautify the 
home and make the dress of herself and children at- 
tractive; but, under the circumstances, it would be 
worse than foolish for her to spend her scant earnings 
on vases and flowers, laces and velvets. God has laid 
upon Christian nations the work of evangelizing the 
heathen world. He has laid on us the duty of Chi'is- 
tianizing our own heathen, and under such conditions 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM, 189 

that the obligation presses with an overwhelming 
ui'gency. If this duty were accepted by all Christians, 
the bni'den would rest lightly upon each ; but great 
multitudes in the church are shirking all responsibility. 
So fai' as the work of n^issions is concerned, these 
members of the household of faith are loungers. The 
unfaithful many throw unnatxu'al biu'dens on the faith- 
ful few. Under these cu'cumstances he who would be 
faithful must accept sacrifices which would not other- 
wise be his duty. That is, the principle always and 
everywhere appHcable, that we are under obligations 
to make the wisest use of every penny, binds him to a 
use of his means which, if every Christian did his duty, 
would not be necessary. Notwithstanding all the sac- 
rifices made by some, there are vast multitudes, w^hich 
the estabhshed channels of beneficence have placed 
within our reach, who are starving for the bread of 
Hfe. As long as this is true, must not high uses of 
money yield to the highest? It is not enough to be 
sure that we are making a good use of means ; for, as 
the Germans say, the good is a great enemy of the 
best- The expenditui-e of a large sum on a work of 
art may be a good use of the money, but can any one 
not purblind with selfishness fail to see that, w^hen a 
thousand dollars actually respresents the salvation of 
a certain number of souls, there are higher uses for the 
money ? 

The purchase of luxuiies is often justified by the 
following fallacy : " I am giving w^ork and hence bread 
to the poor ; and it is much wiser thus to let them 
earn it than to encourage them in idleness by bestow- 
ing the price of the lace in charity." Thus many justify 
extravagance and make their luxuries flatter theii* pride 
into the complacent conviction that they are unselfish. 



190 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

An economy in truth — forcing the same act to ministei- 
at once to self-indulgence and self-righteousness! 
Does it make no difference to the world how its labor 
is expended, whether on something useful or useless, 
for high uses or low ? "Many hold that an enormous 
expenditui-e of wealth is highly commendable, because 
it 'makes trade.' They forget that waste is not 
wealth-making; war, fire, the sinking of a ship also 
' make trade,' because by destroying existing capital 
they increase demand. The wealth thus wasted would, 
more wisely used, give work to many more people in 
creating more wealth."* 

Again, the advocates or excusers of self-indulgence 
pose as the vindicators of God's love. They tell us 
that he gave all good things for the uses of his chil- 
di-en, and that he rejoices in theii- delight. Yes *, God 
is even more benevolent than such suppose. So 
greatly does he desii'e our joy that he is not content to 
see us satisfied with the low delights of self-gratifica- 
tio*i, but would fain have us know the blessedness of 
self-sacrifice for others. The writer has no sympathy 
with asceticism. There is no virtue in deformity ; 
good taste is not unchristian ; beauty often costs no 
more than ugliness. Away with the idea of penance . 
It belies God, and caricatures the Christian religion. 
It differs from the self-sacrifice which Christ taught 
and exemplified as widely as the suicide of Cato 
differed from the heroic death of _ii'nold von Winkel- 
ried. Christ did not die for the sake of dying, but to 
save a world ; and he does not inculcate self- 
denial for the sake of self-denial, but for the sake of 
others. 

Many practice self-denial, if not for its own sake, 

* Economic Tract No. X. " Of Work and Wealth," by R. R. Bowker. 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM, 191 

* 

only for the sake of saving, and with little or no refer- 
ence to giving. Let a Japanese heathen show us a 
more excellent way. I take the following account 
from The Missionary Herald (Sept., 1883). In a 
certain place, and generation by generation, the owner 
and relatives of a certain house prospered greatly. 
Year by year*, those persons, on the second day of the 
New Year, assembled and worshiped the god Kannin 
Daimiyp-jhi-san. The meaning of the name in Eng- 
lish is " the great, bright god of self-restraint." After 
engaging in worship, the head of the house opened 
the Kannin-hako (self-restraint box), and distributed 
to the needy money enough to enable them to live in 
comfort -for a time. The money in the box was the 
annual accumulation of his ofiterings to his god. 

Outsiders, learning of the prosperity, worship, and 
large giving to the needy, which characterized this 
family, were astonished, and presented themselves to 
inquire into the matter. The master of the house, in 
reply, gave the following account of the practice of his 
household : 

" From ancient times, my family has believed in and 
worshiped Hhe great, bright god of self-restraint.' 
We have also made a box, and called it 'the self- 
restraint box,' for the reception of the first-fruits and 
other percentages, all of which ai'e offered to oui* god. 

" As to percentages, this is our mode of proceeding : 
If I would buy a dollar garment, I manage by self- 
restraint and economy to get it for eighty cents, and 
the remaining twenty cents I drop into ' the self-re- 
straint box '; or, if I would give a five-dollai^ feast to 
my friends, I exercise self-restraint and economy, and 
give it for f oui*, di'opping the remaining dollar into the 
box ; or, if I detei'mine to build a house that shall cost 



192 MONEY AND THE. KINGDOM. 

one hundred dollars, I exercise self-restraint and 
economy, and build it for eighty, putting the remain- 
ing twenty dollars into the box as an offering to 
Kannin Davmiyo-jin-san. . . .In proportion to 
my annual outlays, the sum in this box is large or 
small. This year my outlays have been large ; hence, 
by the practice of the virtues named, the amount in 
' the self-restraint box ' is great. Yet, notwithstand- 
ing this, we are living in comfort, peace, and happi- 
ness." Among us, outlays and benefactions are apt to 
be in inverse, instead of direct, ratio. I am strongly in- 
clined to think that Christians could gain easy forgive- 
ness for a little idolatry of " the great, bright god of 
self-restraint." And if the " self-restraint box" were 
marked Home Missions, and the savings resulting 
from our self-denial were dropped into it, the " million 
dollars a year" called for by Dr. Goodell, in 1881, 
would be speedily forthcoming. 

The general acceptance, by the chui'ch, of the Chris- 
tian principle that every penny is to be used in the 
way that will best honor God, would cause every 
channel of benevolence to overflow its banks, and 
occasion a blessed freshet of salvation thi'oughout the 
world. "But," says some one, "that principle de- 
mands daily self-denial." Undoubtedly; and that 
fact is the Master's seal set to its truth. " If any man 
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up 
his cross daily, and follow m^." (Luke ix, 23). 

2. And there are no exceptions to this law of sacri- 
fice; it binds all alike. Christian people will agree 
that missionaries are called to make great sacrifices 
for Christ ; but why does the obligation rest on them 
any more than on all ? Does the missionary belong 
absolutely to God? No less do we. Do the love and 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 193 

sacrifice of Cliiist lay him under boundless obligation? 
Christ died for every man. AVhy is not the rich man 
in America under as great obligation to practice self- 
sacrifice for the salvation of the heathen as the 
missionary in Central Africa, provided his sacrifice 
can be made fruitful of theu' good? And that is 
exactly the provision which is made by missionary 
boards to-day. They establish channels of intercom- 
munication which bring us into contact with all heath- 
endom, and make Africa, which, centuries ago, fell 
among thieves, and has ever since been robbed and 
sore-wounded, our neighbor. To live in luxury, and 
then leave a legacy for missions, does not fulfill the 
law of sacrifice. Every steward is responsible for the 
disposition of his trust made by will. The obligation 
still rests upon him to bestow his possessions where, 
after his death, they will do most for God. Legacies 
to benevolent societies ought to be greatly multiplied, 
and would be, if the principle of Christian stewardship 
were accepted ; but such a legacy cannot compound 
for an unconsecrated life. If the priest or Levite, 
who passed by on the other side, wrote a codicil to his 
will, providing for wounded wayfarers, I fear it was 
hardly counted unto him for righteousness, was 
hardly a proof that he loved his neighbor as himself. 
Christ said : " Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
gospel"; and he did not say it to the twelve, but to the 
whole body of believers. If we cannot go in x:)erson, we 
are under obligations to go by proxy. The rich man 
has more power to send than the missionary has to go ; 
he can. perhaps, send a dozen. And why is he not called 
to make as great sacrifices in sending as the missionary 
in going?* The obligations of all men rest on the 
* Glance at some of the sacriflces of missionaries who go to the frontier. 



194 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

same grounds. The law of sacrifice is universal. "If 
ANY man will come after me "; that means Dives and 
Lazarus alike ; the terms are all-inclusive. And not 
only must all men sacrifice, but the measure of sacrifice 
is the same for all. God does not ask of any two the 
same gift, because to no two are his gifts the same ; 
but he does require of every man the same sacrifice. 
"Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that 
HE HATH, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke xiv, 33). 
To give the little all is as hard as to give the abound- 
ing all. In both cases the sacrifice is the same ; for it 
is measured less by what is given than by what re- 
mains. Only when the sacrifice is all-inclusive is it 
perfect and entire. It is the sacrifice, not the gift, 
which is the essential thing in God's eye. What he 
demands of every soul is a complete sacrifice — the ab- 
solute surrender of self, of all powers and all posses - 



Writing to the Congregational Union for aid to build a parsonage, one says : 

"Am sleeping in a shack three miles from town, and taking my meals at 
the hotel. Not a house or building of any kind to be had to live in. My 
family are in Ohio, awaiting arrangements for a home. Can you help us ?" 

Another writes : " During the first two years' service here, was obliged to 
live in Seattle, seven miles away, going to and fro on foot. For one year 
since, have occupied such a building as I could erect in thirty days, with my 
own hands." 

Another : " My wife and myself, with our daughter of six years, have 
been doing our best to live (if it can be called living) in an attic of a store. 
It is all unfinished inside. By putting up a board partition we have two 
rooms. To reach our rooms we have to go around to the rear of the store, 
and make our way among boxes, barrels, tin cans, etc., to the foot of the 
outside stairway that leads to our attic. We are doing our best to keep 
warm ; but with mercury twenty degrees below zero we do not find it easy. 
Then for these accommodations, which are the best and all we can get, we 
have to pay $10 a mouth. Our salary is only $500. Cannot the Union loan 
us $250, to help us build ?" 

Another, writing for a loan, says : " My family of seven lived, all summer, 
in a house twelve by sixteen, having only two rooms." 

Many are heroically enduring hardship for the Kingdom, at the front, 
whose sacrifices would be less if ours were greater, whose sufferings could 
be relieved if our luxuries were curtailed. 



Money and the kingdom. 195 

sions ; not the abandoning of the latter any more than 
of the former, but their entire surrender to God to be 
used honestly for him. In George Herbert's noble 
words : 

" Next to Sincerity, remember still, 
Thou must resolve upon Integrity. 
God will have all thou hast ; thy mind, thy -will, 
Tny thoughts, thy words, thy works." 

Whatever their occupation, Christians have but one 
business in the world; viz., the extending of Christ's 
Kingdom; and merchant, mechanic, and banker are 
under exactly the same obhgations to be wholly conse- 
crated to that work as is the missionary. 

3. One who believes that every dollar belongs to 
God, and is to be used for him, will not imagine that 
lie has discharged all obhgation by " giving a tenth to 
the Lord." One who talks about the " Lord's tenth," 
probably thinks about "his own" nine-tenths. The 
question is not what proportion belongs to God ? But, 
having given all to him, what proportion will best 
honor him by being appUed to the uses of myself and 
family, and what proportion will best honor him hj 
being applied to benevolent uses ? Because necessi- 
ties differ this proportion will differ. One man has a 
small income and a large family ; another has a large 
income and no family at all. Manifestly the propor- 
tion which will best honor God by being applied to 
benevolence is much larger in the one case than in the 
other. God, therefore, requii-es a different proportion 
to be thus applied in the two cases. If men's needs 
varied dii'ectly as then* incomes, it might, perhaps, be 
practicable and reasonable to fix on some definite pro- 
portion as due from all to Christian and benevolent 
work. But, while men's wants are quite apt to grow 



196 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

with tlieii- income, their needs do not.* A man whose 
income is five hundred dollars may have the same needs 
as his neighbor whose income is fifty thousand. 

There are multitudes in the land who, after having 
given one-tenth of their increase, might fare sumptu- 
ously every day, gratify every whim, and live with the 
most lavish expenditure. Would that fulfill the law 
of Christ, "If any man will come after me let him 
deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow 
me"? 

There is always a tendency to substitute form for 
spirit, rules for principles. It is so much easier to 
conform the conduct to a rule than to make a principle 
inform the whole life. Moses prescribed rules ; 
Christ inculcated principles — ^rules for children, prin- 
ciples for men. 

The law of tithes was given when the race was m 
its childhood, and the relations of money to the king- 
dom of God were radically different from what they 
are now. The Israelite was not held responsible for 
the conversion of the world. Money had no such 
spmtual equivalents then as now; it did not represent 
the salvation of the heathen. The Jew was required 
simply to make provision for his own worship ; and its 
limited demands might appropriately be met by levy- 
ing upon a certain proportion of his increase. Pales- 
tine was his world and his kindred the race ; but, under 
the Christian dispensation, the world is our country, 
and the race our kindred. The needs of the world to- 
day are boundless ; hence, every man's obligation to 
supply that need is the full measure of his ability ; not 

• Wlien John Wesley's income was £30, he lived on ^28, and gave two ; 
ancl when his income rose to ^60, and afterwards to ^120, he still lived on 
^28, and gave all the remainder. 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 197 

one-tenth, or any other fraction of it. And no one ex- 
ercises that full measure uiitil he has sacrificed. 

By all means let there be system. It is as valuable 
in gi'vdng as in anything else. Proportionate giving to 
benevolence is both reasonable and scriptui-al — "as 
God hath prospered." It is well to fix on some pro- 
portion of income, less than which we will not give, 
and then bring expenses within the limit thus laid 
down. But when this proportion has been given — be 
it a tenth, or fifth, or half — ^it does not follow neces- 
sarily that duty has been fully done. There can be 
found in rules no substitute for an honest purpose and 
a consecrated heart. 

4. The principle that every dollar is to be used in 
the way that will best honor God is as applicable to 
capital as to increase or income, and in many cases 
requires that a portion of capital be applied dii'ectly to 
benevolent uses. " But," says one, " I must not give 
of my capital, because that w ould impair my ability to 
give in the future. I must not kill the goose that lays 
the golden egg^ The objection is of weight, especial- 
ly in ordinaiy times ; but these are times wholly ex- 
traordinary ; this is the world's emergency. It may be 
quite true that giving one dollar now out of your cap- 
ital would prevent your giving five dollars fifteen 
years hence. But it should be remembered that, for 
home missionary work, one dollar now is worth ten 
dollars fifteen years later. This saying has become 
proverbial among the home missionaries of the West. 

Money, like corn, has a twofold power — that of min- 
istering to want and that of reproduction. If there 
were a famine in the land, no matter how sore it might 
be, it would be folly to grind up all the seed-corn for 
food. But, on the other hand, suppose, in the midst 



198 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

of the famine, after feeding their famihes and doling 
out a handful in charity, the farmers put all the in- 
crease back into the ground, and do it year after year, 
while the world is starving. That would be something 
worse than foolish. It would be criminal. Yet that is 
what multitudes of men are doing. Instead of apply- 
ing the power in money to the end for which it was 
entrusted to them, they use it almost wholly to accu- 
mulate more power. A miller might as well spend his 
life building his dam high and higher, and never turn 
the water to his wheel. Bishop Butler said to his sec- 
retary: "I should be ashamed of myself, if I could 
leave ten thousand pounds behind me." Many pro- 
fessed Christians die disgracefully and "wickedly 
rich." The shame and sin, however, lie not in the 
fact that the power was gathered, but that it was un- 
wielded. 

It is the duty of some men to make a great deal of 
money. God has given to them the money-making 
talent ; and it is as wrong to bury that talent as to bury 
a talent for preaching. It is every man's duty to wield 
the widest possible power for righteousness ; and the 
power in money must be gained before it can be used. 
But let a man beware ! This power in money is some- 
thing awful. It is more dangerous than dynamite. 
The victims of " saint-seducing gold " are numberless. 
If a Christian grows rich, it should be with fear and 
trembling, lest the " deceitfulness of riches" undo him ; 
for Christ spoke of the salvation of a rich man as some- 
thing miraculous (Luke xviii, 24 — 27). 

Let no man deceive himself by saying : " I will give 
when I have amassed wealth. I desire money that I 
may do good with it ; but I will not give now, that I 
may give the more largely in the future." That is the 



MONET AND THE KINGDOM. 199 

pit in which many have perished. If a man is growing 
large in wealth, nothing but constant and generous 
giving can save him from growing small in soul. In 
determining the amount of his gifts and the question 
whether he should impair his capital, or to what ex- 
tent, a man should never lose sight of a distinct and 
intelligent aim to do the greatest possible good in a 
life-time. Each must decide for himself what is the 
wisest, the highest, use of money ; and we need often 
to remind om'selves of the constant tendency of human 
nature to selfishness and self-deception. 



THE PRINCIPLE NOT ACCEPTED. 

The principle which has been stated and briefly ap- 
plied, and which is as abundantly sustained by reason 
as it is clearly taught in the Scriptures, is not ac- 
cepted by the Christian Church. There are many 
noble gifts and noble givers ; but they only help us to 
demonstrate that great multitudes in the chui'ch have 
not yet learned the first principles of Christian giving. 
According to Dr. Dorchester there were, in 1880, ten 
million members of Evangelical Protestant churches 
in the United States, who, from 1870 to 1880, gave an- 
nually for missions, home and foreign, five million five 
hundred thousand dollars,* an average of fifty-five 
cents for each church-member. A considerable pro- 
portion, however, is given by church-goers who are not 
church-members. We will call it, therefore, an even 
fifty cents for each of the ten million professing Chris- 

• Dorchester's "Problem of Religious Progress," pp. 552—555. 



200 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

tians. But many thousands give a dollar each, which 
means that as many thousands more give nothing. 
There are some thousands who give ten dollars ; and 
for every thousand of this class there are nineteen 
thousand who do not give anything. Dr. Cuyler says 
he once had a seamstress in his church who used to 
give a hundred dollars a year to missions. Not a few 
out of larger means, give as much ; and, for every one 
of them, there are one hundred and ninety-nine who 
give nothing. Some give five thousand dollars ; and 
for each of them there are ten thousand church-mem- 
bers who do not give one cent to redeem the heathen 
world, for which he with whom they profess to be in 
sympathy gave his life. There are hundreds of 
churches that do not give anything to home or foreign 
missions ; and of those that do many members give 
nothing. A church in Hartford gave eleven hundred 
dollars to home missions. One lady said to another : 
"Didn't we do well this morning?" " No ; not as a 
church," was the reply. " For one lady gave six hun- 
dred dollars and one gentleman gave three hundred." 
If church collections were analyzed, it would appear 
that, as a rule, by far the greater part is given by a 
very few persons, and they not the most able. The 
great majority of church-members give only a trifle or 
nothing at all for the work of missions. 

Five million five hundred thousand dollars for this 
cause sounds like a large sum. But great and small 
are relative terms. Compared with the need of the 
world and the ability of the church it is pitiable in- 
deed. Look at that ability. The Christian religion, 
by rendering men temperate, industrious, and moral, 
makes them prosperous. There are but few of the 
very poor in our churches. The great question has 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 201 

come to be : " How can we reach the masses f 
Chiu'ch-membership is made up chiefly of the well-to- 
do and the rich.* On the other hand, a majority of the 
membership is composed of women, who control less 
money than men. It is, therefore, fail* to say that the 
chui'ch-member is at least as well off as the average 
citizen. One-fifth, then, of the wealth of the United 
States, or ^8,728,400,000, was in the hands of chui-ch- 
members in 1880 ; and this takes no account of the 
immense capital in brains and muscles. Of this gi*eat 
wealth one-sixteenth part of one per cent., or one dol- 
lar out of fifteen hundi'ed and eighty-six, is given in a 
year for the salvation of seven or eight hundred mil- 
lion heathen. If Christians spent every cent of wages, 
salary, and other income on themselves, and gave to 
missions only one cent on the dollar of their real and 
personal property, their contribution would be $87,- 
284,000 instead of $5,500,000. In 1880 they paid out 
nearly six times as much for sugar and molasses as for 
the world's salvation, seven times as much for boots 
and shoes, sixteen times as much for cotton and wool- 
en goods, eleven times as much for meat, and eighteen 
times as much for bread. From 1870 to 1880 the ave- 
rage annual increase of the wealth of church-members 
was $391,740,000. And this, remember, was over and 
above all expense of Hving and all benevolences ! That 
is, the average annual increase of wealth in the hands 
of professed Christians was seventy-one times greater 
than their offering to missions, home and foreign. 
How that offering looks, when compared with theii- 



• The Century says that, of the fifty leading business men of Columbus, 
Ohio, and Springfield, Mass. (if we are not mistaken in the unnamed cities), 
four-fifths are attendants upon the churches and supporters of them, while 
three-fifths are communicants. 



202 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

wealth and its annual increase, may be seen on tlie op- 
posite page. 

If the members of our Sunday-schools in America 
gave, each, one cent a Sabbath to missions, it would 
aggregate nearly as much as is now secured, with end- 
less writing and pleading and praying, from our entire 
church-membership. If each of these professed Chris- 
tians gave five cents — the price of one cigar — once a 
week, it would amount in a year to $26,000,000. If 
each gave one cent every day to that which he pro- 
fesses is the object of his life — the building of the 
Kingdom— it would amount to $36,500,000. 

Immense sums are invested freely if there is only a 
chance of large dividends. The Times of India says 
that "nearly $25,000,000 have been invested in search 
for gold in India, and that not $2,500 worth of the 
precious metal has been obtained after three years of 
labor." Christians have opportunities ,to invest, and 
with perfect security, where they will realize thirty, 
sixty, a hundred-fold — that is three thousand, six 
thousand, ten thousand per cent. — yet how few and 
small the investments ! 

Seventy business men of New York subscribed 
$1,400,000, or $20,000 each, toward the Metropolitan 
Opera House in that city, which was completed two 
years ago ; and this without receiving or expecting 
pecuniary return. "Where are the seventy men who 
will give one-half that amount to home missions? Is 
the love of Italian opera a more powerful motive than 
love of country, love of souls, and love of Christ ? 

It is commonly agreed that the annual liquor bill of 
the nation is $900,000,000. . As comparatively few 
women and children use intoxicating drinks, and many 
men do not, we may safely assume that the most of 



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MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 203 

that amount is paid by one -fifth of the population. 
That is, in 1880, ten uullion people paid $900,000,000 
for liquors, and the same number of professed Chiis- 
tians gave $5,500,000 for missions. Any one that did 
not know better might naturally infer that the one 
class loves beer and whisky better than the other 
loves souls. 

The other day a brutal prize-fighter got a pui'se of 
$12,000 for pounding an opponent into pulp. 
Money can be had in abundance for illegitimate uses, 
but a thousand interests, dear to the Master as the 
apple of his eye, must languish for the lack of funds. 
We have seen that there is no lack of wealth ; there is 
money enough in the hands of church-members to sow 
every acre of the earth with the seed of truth; but the 
average Christian deems himself a despot over his 
purse. God has intrusted to his children power 
enough to give the gospel to every creatui'e by the 
close of this century ; but it is being misappliGd. In- 
deed, the world would have been evangelized long- 
ago, if Christians had perceived the relations of money 
to the Kingdom, and had accepted their stewardship. 
There has been too much of the spirit of an Ohio 
church treasurer (a professed Christian), who, when 
his pastor brought his annual contribution to the 
American Board, said to him : " Tou ought not to do 
it. I don't think it's right. You ought to stop giving 
to missions, and preach for us on a smaller salary*'; 
adding, in conclusion ; " TFe are heathen." A proposi- 
tion which few enlightened men would be disposed to 
controvert, though it is a hard rub on the heathen. 

When the heathen come to the light, they are much 
more Christian in their conceptions of duty and privi- 
lege, and shame us by theii' giving. Six native Chiis- 



204 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

tians, living on the banks of the Euphrates, whose 
property averaged, perhaps, eight hundred dollars, 
gave towards their chapel and school-room three hun^ 
dred and eight dollars, an average of more than fifty 
dollars each. " This contribution," adds the mission- 
ary, " means for one of those poor mountaineers morh 
than one thousand days' worky " It is an amazing 
circumstance that, in 1881, the 1,200 church-members 
belonging to the missions of the United Presbyterian 
Board, in Egypt — most of them very poor men and 
women — ^raised £4,546, or more than $17 each, for the 
support of churches and schools. The Baptists, among 
the Karens, have done equally well."* Yes; that is 
amazing ; but it is far more amazing that Christians in 
rich America should give only fifty cents each to mis- 
sions. If we gave as much per caput to home and for- 
eign missions as they gave for churches and schools, 
our offering would be $170,000,000, instead of $5,500,- 
000. 

Is it not evident that most of our church-members 
have failed to learn the first principles of Christian 
giving? And many who give most largely do not seem 
to have grasped fully the idea ox stewardship, and to 
hold themselves under obligations to use every dollar 
in the way that will most honor God. A wealthy cler- 
gyman (!), who was a munificent giver, saw, in Paris, a 
pin that struck his fancy, and gave $800 for it- If, in 
the wide world, he could find no higher use for the 
money, it was his duty to spend it as he did. Many 
give largely, and spend as lavishly on themselves ; nor 
is it strange, in view of the instructions often given. 
A pastor, whose fame is in all the churches, and justly, 
writes : " I say not, indeed, that it is wrong for a man 
• Joseph Cook, "Occident," p. 12& 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 205 

to take such a position in society as his riches warrant 
him to assume, or that there is sin in spending money 
on oui- residences, or in surrounding ourselves with the 
treasui'es of human wisdom in books, or the triumphs 
of human art in pictures and statuary ; but I do say 
that oui* gifts to the cause of God ought to be at least 
abreast of our expenditui^e for these other things." 
And a worthy secretary of one of our most honored 
benevolent societies says : " He shall see the travail of 
his soul and be satisfied — When? JSTot till beneficence 
keeps pace loith luxury y Will that satisfy him who 
commended her that cast into the treasury all her liv- 
ing, who requu-es of his followers daily cross-beai'ing, 
and admits no one to discipleship who has not forsaken 
" all that he hath" % Is the Master satisfied when a 
rich man, to gratify "a nice and curious palate," spends 
ten thousand a year on his table, provided only benef- 
icence keeps pace with his luxury, and he gives as 
much more to missions ? Or, is it untrue that God 
requii-es every one to make the wisest and best use of 
all his money % 

Many churches are never taught that the consecra- 
tion ot all our property to God is no more optional 
than the practice of justice or chastity or any other 
duty. Most Christians leave their giving to mere im- 
pulse ; they give something or nothing, much or little, 
as they feel like it. They might as well attempt to 
live a Chiistian life and be honest or not, as they felt 
like it. The churches are not adequately instructed as 
to this duty. They hear too often of the "Lord's 
share." The reformation must begin with the pulpit. 
While I would not seem censorious of my brethren, it 
must nevertheless be said that too many ministers have 
not laid hold of this truth, or, at least, it has not laid 
hold of them,. 



206 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

No, there is no lack of wealth in the churches, even 
in hard times. When the rod of conviction and con- 
secration smites the flinty rock of selfishness, it will 
break asunder and send forth abundant streams of ben- 
efaction, which shall make glad the waste places and 
prove the water of life to the perishing multitudes. 



ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRINCIPLE URGED. 

Having defined the true principle of Christian giving, 
and glanced at some of the questions of casuistry 
which spring from its application, and having shown 
that the church does not act on it, it remains to present 
briefly some of the considerations which urge its ac- 
ceptance. 

1. Duty. It is common to urge benevolence by ap- 
pealing to the hope of larger returns, which are 
assured by many promises of the "Word. And such 
motives were needed in the childhood of the race ; but 
with all our light they should not be needed now. Did 
not Christ place giving on a higher plane ? He said, 
"It is more blessed to give than to receive," not be- 
cause of the return ; but because giving is more God- 
like. Men urge benevolence as an investment. It is 
true that the steward whom God finds faithful, he is 
very apt to honor with a larger trust ; but this should 
not be the motive of giving. We should " do good, 
and lend, hoping for nothing again." It is true that 
honesty is the best policy ; but if this be the motive of 
honest dealing, there is no real honesty. So when men 
give because they expect a larger return, there is no 
real giving. In the region of right and wrong we may 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 207 

not ask what is politic ; we stand under the scepter of 
the absolute Ought, which does not reason or advise 
or plead, but simply says : Thou shalt. Whether or 
not we have learned that only that which we give is 
truly and forever oui's, the duty to give remains the 
same. The fact that God requii'es the entire consecra- 
tion of all our substance, ought, alone, to be sufficient 
to move us ; but there are other considerations. 

2. The spmtual life and power of the churches de- 
mand the acceptance of the true doctrine touching 
possessions. We talk about " our crosses." There is 
no such expression in the Bible. The word does not 
occur there in the plural. It has been belittled ; it has 
come to mean trial, disagreeable duty, anything which 
crosses our inclination ; but its meaning in the Scrip- 
tures is never so meager as that. There it always 
means crucifixion ; like the word gallows, in modern 
speech, it means death. To take one's cross means, in 
the Bible, to start for the place of execution. " If any 
man will come after me, let him take up his cross and 
follow me. ^' Follow him where? To Golgotha. He 
in whose experience there is no Calvary where he him- 
self has been crucified with Christ, knows little of 
Christian discipleship. Chiist demands actual self- 
abnegation ; but where the Christian name is honored, 
and its profession confers obvious advantages, self- 
deception is common and Christian experience is liable 
to be shallow. As quaint old Kutherford said: "Men 
get Christ for the half of nothing — such maketh loose 
work." Too many church-members know little or 
nothing of self- surrender ; hence the lack of spiiitual 
life and power. At such times the church suffers for 
the want of some decisive test, the application of which 
will show men to themselves, and separate, with a good 



208 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

degree of accuracy, those who have been crucified with 
Christ from those who know not what it is to " take up 
the cross." 

In a commercial age, and especially in a luxurious 
civilization, the form of worldliness to which the church 
is most likely to be tempted is the love of money. As 
the means of almost every possible self-gratification it 
becomes the representative of self; hence the true 
principle of Christian giving, the actual surrender of 
all substance to God, is exactly the test for the ap- 
plication of which the church is sufiering to-day. If 
this test were applied now to every church-member as 
Christ applied it to the young ruler (and the need is 
the same, for the human heart is the same, and heaven 
and the conditions of entrance are the same), would not 
the record in many a case be, *' and he went away sor- 
rowful, for he had great possessions "? 

What right has any one, who has light on this sub- 
ject, to believe he has given himself to God, if he has 
not given his possessions? If he has kept back the 
less, what reason is there to think he has given the 
greater ? As Jeremy Taylor says :* " He never loved 
God who will quit anything of his religion to save his 
money." 

Is not much that the Master said concerning posses- 
sions a dead letter in the church of to-day? " Lay not 
up for yourselves treasures upon earth." Is not that 
exactly what many in the church are doing, and many 
more striving with eager energy to do ? " The deceit- 
fulness of riches." How ma.ny are afraid of being de- 
ceived by them ? How many refuse to run the risk ? 
" How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the 

• " Holy Living," p. 184. 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 209 

Kingdom of Heaven." How many are unwilling to be^ 
come rich or richer ? Multitudes now complain that 
they have so little who, on the great day of accounts, 
will mourn that they had so much. The Word declares 
covetousness to be idolatry; but how many church- 
members were ever disciplined for this idolatry ? There 
is, however, a sign of the millennium down in Maine, 
where, about a year ago, a church disciplined five mem- 
bers because they would give nothing. 

The Spiritual life and power of the chtu'ch can vital- 
ize and save the world only when there is a spirit of 
consecration sufficiently deep and inclusive to accept 
the true principle of Christian giving. 

3. Again, our safety from the perils which have been 
discussed demands the acceptance of this principle. 

It is not urged as a panacea; specific remedies, 
which there is no space to discuss, must be applied ; 
reforms must be pressed ; we need patriotic and wise 
legislation, and to this end fewer politicians and more 
statesmen ; but statesmanship cannot save the country. 
Christ's refusal to be made a king, and his rejection of 
Satan's offer of the world's scepter, ought to teach those 
who seek to save the world that moral means are nec- 
essaiy to moral ends. Christ saw that the world could 
not be saved by legislation, that only by his being 
" lifted up " could all men be drawn unto him. He 
saw that he could not save the world without sacrific- 
ing for it ; no more can we. The saving power of the 
church is its sacrificing ]3ower. 

The gospel is the radical cui-e of the world's great 
evils, and its promulgation, like its spirit, requu'es 
sacrifice. Money is the sinews of spii'itual warfare as 
well as carnal, and a sufficient amount of it would en- 
able us to meet these perils with the gospel. 



210 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 



Cliristianize the immigrant and he will be easily 
Americanized. Christianity is the solvent of all race 
antipathies. Give the Romanist a pure gospel and he 
will cease to be a Romanist. It has already been shown 
that Christian education will solve the Mormon prob- 
lem. The temperance reform, like all others which de- 
pend on popular agitation, must have money, and is 
being retarded by the lack of it. Concerning the rem- 
edy for socialism, accept the opinion of an economist 
who has made it a subject of special study. Says Prof. 
Ely : " It is an undoubted fact that modern socialism 
of the worst type is spreading to an alarming extent 
among our laboring classes, both foreign and native. I 
think the danger is of such a character as should arouse 
the Christian people of this country to most earnest 
efiorts for the evangelization of the poorer classes, 
particularly in large cities. What is needed is Chris- 
tianity, and the Christian church can do far more than 
political economists toward a reconciliation of social 
classes. The church's remedy for social discontent and 
dynamite bombs is Christianity as taught in the New 
Testament. Now in all this you will find nothing new. 
It is only significant in this regard : others have come 
to these conclusions from the study of the Bible ; from 
a totally different starting point, from the study of 
political economy, I have come to the same goal."* 

But the acceptance of the Christian doctrine con- 
cerning property would have a direct, as well as indi- 
rect, influence on socialism. Let us, therefore, dwell 
a moment on the subject. 

In the popular ferment, a hundred years ago, which 

• From a letter by Prof. R. T. Ely to Rev. H. A. SchauflQer. I regret that 
lack of space forbids my quoting the entire letter, which may be found it 
The Home Missionary for Oct., 1884, p. 227. 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 211 

culminated in the French Eevolution, the demand was 
for equal rights and the watchword was Liberty. There 
is a popular ferment thi'oughout Europe to-day which 
is more universal and extends to the United States. 
The popular demand now is equality of condition, and 
the watchword is Property — a cry the meaning of 
which the dullest and most earthly can understand. 
This movement, which is steadily gathering force, re- 
sults from the two most stinking facts of the Nineteenth 
century : fii'st, the general diffusion of knowledge 
thi'ough the press, which has wonderfully multiplied 
wants up and down the entire social scale ; and, sec- 
ond, the creation of immense wealth by means of the 
steam engine. But this wealth, which is necessary to 
the satisfaction of these wants, has been massed. In a 
word, the difficulty is Jcnoioledge midtipUed and popu- 
larized, and icealth multiplied and centralized. 

The right distribution of property, which is the ker- 
nel of the social question, is the great problem of our 
civilization ; and it may well be doubted whether the 
true solution will be found until the church accepts, 
both in doctrine and practice, the teaching of God's 
Word touching possessions. For the chui'ch is re- 
sponsible for public opinion on all moral questions, and 
no gi'eat question of rights can be settled for the world 
until Christian men come into right relations with it. 

The inexorable law of our present industrial system 
is that the cost of subsistence determines the rate of 
wages. This makes no provision for the higher wants 
of increasing intelligence, and therefore insures an in- 
creasing populai' discontent. It would seem that the 
solution of the great difficulties between capital and 
labor must be found in some form of co-operation by 
which the workman will be admitted to a just share in 



212 . MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

the profits of his labor. Professor Cairns, who is con- 
sidered one of the greatest economists England has 
produced, believes that co-operative production affords 
the laboring classes " the sole means of escape from a 
harsh and hopeless destiny" (" Leading Principles," p. 
338). Referring to several thousand co-operative so- 
cieties in England, having some millions of capital, 
Thomas Hughes says : " I still look to this movement 
as the best hope for England and other lands." The 
eminent statistician, Carroll D. Wright, the head of 
the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, re- 
ferring to the duty of the rich manufacturer to regard 
himself as " an instrument of God for the upbuilding 
of the race," and the promotion of the highest welfare 
of those in his employ, says : " This may sound like 
sentiment. I am willing to call it sentiment ; but I 
know it means the best material prosperity, and that 
every employer who has been guided by such senti- 
ments has been rewarded two-fold ; first, in witnessing 
the wonderful improvement of his people, and, second, 
in seeing his dividends increase, and the wages of iiis 
operatives increase with his dividends. The factory 
system of the future will be run on this basis. The 
instances of such are multiplying rapidly now." Man- 
ifestly, the acceptance on the part of Christian capital- 
ists of the scriptural doctrine of possessions would 
greatly facilitate the introduction of co-operation or 
any other plan which promised justice to the work- 
man. 

The Christian man who is not willing to make the 
largest profits which an honest regard for the laws of 
trade permits is a rare man. But the laws of trade 
permit much that the laws of God do not permit 
Many transactions are commercially honest which a?^ 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 213 

not righteous. If, now, a man accepts the truth that 
his possessions are a trust to be administered for God's 
glory, he will not consent to increase them by any un- 
righteous means. And since justice and righteousness, 
like honesty, will prove to be the best policy^ the ac- 
ceptance on the part of Christian men of a thoroughly 
righteous plan of co-operation between capital and la- 
bor would eventually compel its general acceptance. 
Let Christian men gain a coiTect conception of their 
relations to their possessions, let them accept the duty 
of Chi'istian stewardship, and it would command their 
getting as well as their spending. There would be no 
motive to diive a sharp bargain. It would pui^ify 
trade. It would mediate between capital and labor. 
It would destroy the foundation on which the rising 
structure of socialism rests. It would cut one of the 
principal roots of popular unbehef ; for extended in- 
quiry in Cincinnati eUcited the almost unanimous re- 
sponse that the reason workingmen neglect the 
churches is that there are on the church rolls the 
names of employers who wrong their employes. 

The acceptance of the true principle of Christian 
giving is urged upon us by the fact that money is 
power, which is needed everywhere for elevating and 
saving men. It is further urged upon us by the fact 
that only such a view of possessions will save us from 
the great and imminent perils of wealth. God might 
have sent his angels to sing his gospel through the 
world, or he might have written it on the sky, and 
made the clouds his messengers ; but we need to bear 
the responsibility of pubHshing that gospel. He might 
make the safe of every benevolent society a gold mine 
as unf aihng as the widow's cruse of oil ; but we need 
to give that gold. The tendency of human natui'e, in- 



214 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

tensified by our commercial activity, is to make the life 
a whirlpool — a great maelstrom which draws every- 
thing into itself. What is needed to-day is a grand re- 
versal of the movement, a transformation of the life 
into a fountain. And in an exceptional degree is this 
the need of Anglo-Saxons. Their strong love of lib- 
erty, and their acquisitiveness, afford a powerful temp- 
tation to offer some substitute for self-abnegation. 
We would call no man master. We must take Christ 
as master. We would possess all things ; we must 
surrender all things. 

One of the grave problems before us is how to make 
great material prosperity conduce to individual ad- 
vancement. The severest poverty is unfavorable to 
morality. Up to a certain point increase of property 
serves to elevate man morally and intellectually, while 
it improves him physically. But, as nations grow rich, 
they are prone to become self-indulgent, effeminate, 
immoral. The physical nature becomes less robust, 
the intellectual nature less vigorous, the moral less 
pure. The pampered civilizations of old had to be re- 
invigorated, from time to time, with fresh infusions of 
barbaric blood — a remedy no longer available. If we 
cannot find in Christianity a remedy or preventive, our 
Christian civilization and the world itself is a failure ; 
and our rapidly increasing wealth, like the " cankered 
heaps of strange-achieved gold," will curse us unto de- 
struction. 

But the recognition of God's ownership in all our 
substance is a perfect antidote for the debilitating and 
corrupting influence of wealth. It prevents self-in- 
dulgence, and the apprehension of religious truth im- 
plied in such recognition affords the strongest possible 
motives to sacrifice and active effort of which men are 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 215 

capable. A hundied yeai'S ago poverty compelled men 
to endure hardness, and so served to make the nation 
great. Now that we are exposed to the pampering in- 
fluence of riches, Chiistian principle must inspire the 
spuit of self-denial for Christ's sake, and the world's 
sake, and so make the nation greater. 

Where that spirit obtains. Mam monism and materi- 
alism, as well as luxuriousness, lose their power, and 
wealth, instead of being centralized, is distributed. So 
that Christian stewardship, so far as it is accepted, 
affords perfect protection against all the perils of 
wealth. 

Our cities, which are gathering together the most dan- 
gerous elements of our civilization, will, in due time, 
unless Christianized, prove the destruction of our free 
institutions. During the last hundi-ed years, the in- 
struments of destruction have been wonderfully multi- 
plied. Offensive weapons have become immeasurably 
more effective. Not so the means of defense. Youb 
life is in the hand of every man you meet. Society is 
safe to-day only so far as every man becomes a law un- 
to himself. The lawless classes are growing much 
more rapidly than the whole population ; and nothing 
but the gospel can transform lawless men and women 
into good citizens. 

The number of missionaries in our cities ought to be 
increased ten or twenty-fold; and their work is ex- 
pensive. It is usually the densest populations which 
ai-e most neglected, and in such quarters mission chap- 
els cannot be built without large expenditures. If our 
cities are to be evangelized, laymen must greatly en- 
large their ideas of the demands of the work, and of 
then* pecuniary responsibility for it. 

The perils which have been discussed (Chaps. IV. — X.) 



216 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

are increasing. And not only has their rate of in- 
crease since 1800 been greater than that of the whole 
population, but greater even than that of our evangel- 
ical church-membership, as may be seen by the accom- 
panying diagram.* As some of our statistics extend 
no further back than 1850, let us compare the rates of 
increase since that date. While the whole population 
has increased a little over two-fold, and the evangelical 
less than three-fold, the Catholic population has in- 
creased nearly four-fold, as has the city population 
also. Wealth has increased six-fold, the use of malt 
liquorsf more than eleven-fold, and the Mormon popu- 
lation in Utah fourteen-fold. Immigration, though 
very irregular, shows a general increase more rapid 
than that of population. Immorality and crime also 
are increasing much more rapidly than church-member- 
ship. That is, the dangerous and destructive elements 
are making decidedly greater progress than the con- 
servative. Our churches are growing, our missionary 
operations extending, our benefactions swelling, and 
we congratulate ourselves upon our progress ; but we 
have only to continue making the same kind of prog- 
ress long enough, and our destruction is sure. 

* This diagram exhibits rate of increase, not relative numbers. The 
straight perpendicular lines, numbered at the top and bottom of the page, 
represent fold. Thus, from 1800 to 1850, the evangelical population in- 
creased ten-fold, and the Catholic population increased sixteen-fold. From 
1800 to 1880, the former increased twenty-seven-fold and the latter sixty- 
three-fold, while the whole population increased somewhat over nine-fold. 
Dr. Dorchester's diagram No. II, " Problem of Keligious Progress," p. 456, 
is very incorrect and utterly misleading. By his diagram the Catholic pop- 
ulation increased, froin 1800 to 18^0, barely three-fold; by his statistics, six- 
teen-fold ; from 1800 to 1880, by his diagram, six or eight-fold ; by his statis- 
tics, sixty-three. His mistake lay in attempting to represent, by the same 
diagram, two entirely different things; viz., rate of increase and relative 
numbers. 

t Malt and vinous liquors are, in some measure, supplanting spirituous. 
Taking all kinds of intoxicating drinks together, the people of the United 
States used three times as much per caput in 1883 as in 1840. 



t80O 



oi23i^^e. 16 Z4. ez io 4& se ei, 



1810 



Z8ZO 



1S30 



1S60 




01Z3i5QT& IS 2A 3i ^ id £6 bi 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 217 

Has not the time fully come when the chm-ch must 
make a new departure of some sort 1 And is it not evi- 
dent that what is needed is a true view of the relations 
of money to the kingdom, and such a spiiit of conse- 
cration as will lay it and all else on the altar ? 

4. We have seen, in the preceding chapters, that a 
mighty emergency is upon us. Our country's future, 
and much of the world's future, depend on the way in 
which Christian men meet the crisis. Do you say: "I 
trust in God, and therefore have no fear ; I believe 
what some one has said, ' If God intends to save the 
world, he cannot afford to make an exception of 
America.' This country is his chosen instrument of 
blessing to mankind; and God's plans never fail"? 
The difference between a true and a false faith is that 
one inspires action while the other paralyzes it. 
God saved the nation during the war of the Rebelhon ; 
but it was not by a false faith, which, with folded arms, 
reheai'sed its confidence in the divine decrees. It was 
by a faith which inspired sacrifice. At the time of 
Paul's shipwreck, it was revealed to him that they 
were all to be saved; but, nevertheless, there were 
conditions with which they must comply, or be lost. 
Their salvation was certain, but not necessary/ it was 
conditioned. I beheve our country will be saved. 
Its salvation may be certain in the counsels of God ; 
but it is not necessary. I beheve it to be conditioned 
on the Church's rising to a higher spirit of sacrifice. 

"WTien the drum beat the nation to battle, a quarte 
of a century ago, no sacrifice was too great; wive«» 
gave their husbands, parents gave their sons. A 
Christian mother had sent seven sons into the Union 
army. Near the close of the war, the eighth, and only 
\emaining son, paid a visit to his mother, and, speak- 



218 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

ing of the war, said : " Mother, what would you do if 
one of the boys should fall in the struggle*?" Turning 
her deep eyes upon him, she said : " God has given me 
nine noble sons ; one he has taken to himself, seven 
are in the army, and I want you to understand, my 
son, that I only hold you as a reserve for your coun- 
try's defense ; and the first breach that you hear of as 
being made in our number, go quickly, and fill it ; and 
may God take care of you, and I will take care of your 
children.'' Is it easier to give one's flesh and blood 
than to give silver and gold? We are engaged in 
what Lord Bacon called the " heroic work of making a 
nation"; for which heroic sacrifices are demanded. 

And our plea is not America for America's sake ; 
but America for the world's sake. For, if this genera- 
tion is faithful to its trust, America is to become God's 
right arm in his battle with the world's ignorance and 
oppression and sin. If I were a Christian African or 
Arab, I should look into the immediate future of the 
United States with intense and thrilling interest ; for, 
as Professor Hoppin of Yale has said: "America 
Christianized means the world Christianized." And 
"If America fail," says Professor Park, "the worla 
will fail." During this crisis. Christian work is un- 
speakably more important in the United States than 
anywhere else in the world. "The nations whose 
conversion is the most pressing necessity of the world 
to-day," says Professor Phelps, "are the Occidental 
nations. Those whose speedy conversion is most vital 
to the conversion of the rest are the nations of the 
Occident. The pioneer stock of mind must be the 
Occidental stock. The pioneer races must be the 
Western races. And of all the Western races, who 
that can read skillfully the providence of God, or can 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 219 

read it at all, can hesitate in affirming that the signs 
of divine decree point to this land of oiu*s as the one 
which is fast gathering to itself the races which must 
take the lead in the final conflicts of Chi'istianity for 
possession of the world? Oiu's is the elect nation for 
the age to come. We ai'e the chosen people. We 
cannot afford to wait. The plans of God will not 
wait. Those plans seem to have brought us to one of 
the cl9sing stages in the world's career, in which w^e 
can no longer drift with safety to our destiny. We 
ai'e shut up to a perilous alternative. Immeasui-able 
opportunities surround and overshadow us. Such, as 
I read it, is the central fact in the philosophy of 
American Home Missions."* 

What a consummate blunder to live selfishly in such 
a generation ! What food for everlasting reflection 
and regret in a life lived narrowly amid such infinitely 
wide opportunities! 

Says a New York daily paper : " A gentleman died 
at his residence in one of our up-town fashionable 
streets, leaving eleven millions of dollars. He was a 
member of the Presbyterian church, in excellent stand- 
ing, a good husband and father, and a thrifty citizen. 
On his deathbed he suffered with great agony of 
mind, and gave continual expression to his remorse 
for what his conscience told him had been an Ul-spent 
life. 'Oh!' he exclaimed, 'if I could only live my 
yeai's over again ! Oh ! if I could only be spared for a 
few yeai-s, I would give all the wealth I have amassed 
in a lifetime. It is a life devoted to money-getting 
that I regret. It is this which weighs me down, and 
makes me despair of the life hereafter.' " Suppose so 

* From letter read at the Home Missionary Anniversary in Cliicago, June 
JtU, 1S8L 



220 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM, 

unfaithful a steward is permitted to enter the many- 
mansions. "When, with clarified, spiritual vision, he 
perceives the true meaning of life, and sees that he 
has lost the one opportunity of an endless existence to 
set in motion influences, which, by leading sinners to 
repentance, would cause heaven to thrill with a new 
joy, it seems to me he would gladly give a hundred 
years of Paradise for a single day on earth in posses- 
sion of the money once entrusted to him — time enough 
to turn that power into the channels of Christian 
work. 

The emergency created by the settlement of the 
states and territories of the West — a grand constella- 
tion of empires — ^is to be met by placing in the hand 
of every Christian agency there at work all the power 
that money can wield. There is scarcely a church, or 
society, or institution of any kind doing God service 
there which is not embarrassed, or sadly crippled for 
lack of funds. Missionaries should be multiplied, 
parsonages and churches built, and colleges generously 
endowed. The nation's salt, with which the whole 
land, and pre-eminently the tainted civilization of the 
frontier, must be sweetened, is Christian education. 
The tendency, which is so marked in many of our 
older and larger colleges, to develop and furnish sim- 
ply the intellect, is full of peril. Divorce religion and 
education, and we shall fall a prey either to blunder- 
ing goodness or well-schooled villainy. The young 
colleges of the "West, like Drury, Doane, Carleton, 
Colorado, and others, founded by broad-minded and 
far-seeing men, are characterized by a strong religious 
influence, and send a surprising porportion of their 
graduates into the ministry. In view of their almost 
boundless possibilities for usefulness in their relations 



MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 221 

to the futui'e of the West and of the nation, and in 
view of theii' ui'gent needs, it is a wonder that those 
who, hke Boaz, are mighty men of wealth, can deny 
themselves the deep and lasting pleasure of liberally 
endowing such institutions. Said one who had just 
given fifty thousand dollars to a Western college : "I 
cannot tell you what I have enjoyed. It is like being 
born into the kingdom again." 

This emergency demands the acceptance of Christian 
stewardship, that our great benevolent societies may 
be adequately furnished for their work. They are 
kept constantly on their knees before the public, and 
with pleas so pitiful, so moving, the marvel to me is 
that, when Christian men hold their peace and their 
purse, the very stones do not cry out. And, notwith- 
standing all their efforts to secure means, they must, 
every one, scrimp at every point, decline providential 
calls to enlarge their work, and even retrench, in order 
to close the fiscal year without a debt. 

The door of opportunity is open in all the eai'th ; 
organizations have been completed, languages learned, 
the Scriptures translated, and now the triumph of the 
Kingdom awaits only the exercise of the power com- 
mitted to the church, but which she refuses to put 
forth. If she is to keep step with the majestic march 
of the divine Providence, the church must consecrate 
the power which is in money. 

5. Oh! that men would accept the testimony of 
Christ touching the blessedness of giving ! He who 
sacrifices most, loves most ; and he who loves most, is 
most blessed. Love and sacrifice are related to each 
other like seed and fi'uit; each produces the other. 
The seed of sacrifice brings forth the fragrant fruit of 
love, and love always has in its heart the seeds of new 



222 MONEY AND THE KINGDOM. 

sacrifice. He who gives but a part is not made perfect 
in love. Love rejoices to give all ; it does not measure 
its sacrifice. It was Judas, not Mary, who calculated 
the value of the alabaster box of ointment. He who 
is infinitely blessed is the Infinite Giver; and man, 
made in his likeness, was intended to find his highest 
blessedness in the completest self-giving. He who 
receives, but does not give, is like the Dead Sea. All 
the fresh floods of Jordan cannot sweeten its dead, 
salt depths. So all the streams of God's bounty can- 
not sweeten a heart that has no outlet ; is ever receiv- 
ing, yet never full and overflowing. 

If those whose horizon is as narrow as the bushel 
under which they hide their light could be induced to 
come out into a large place, and take a worthy view of 
the "Kingdom of Christ and of their relations to it, if 
they could be persuaded to make the principle of 
Christian giving regnant in all their life, their happi- 
ness would be as much increased as their usefulness. 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Adams, John 166 

Adams, Professor H. C 104 

Agassiz . . : 120 

Agricultural resources of the United States 9-10 

Product for 1880, 12, note. 

ALASKA, timber lands of 24 

Alexander III 34 

Alcohol, increase in use of 74 

Americans, physical degeneracy of 169-lTO 

Anglo-Saxons and the world's future 159-180 

Two great ideas represented by 159-160 

Multiplication and expansion of, ia modern times 161-163 

Future growth of 162-165 

Becoming more effective in the United States than in Great 

Britain 171-175 

Characteristics of 172-174 

Arable lands of the West 21-23 

Of the East 28-24 

Area of China 9 

Of the United States 9 

Arizona, lands of 19-20 

Arkansas, timber lands of 23 

Armies, cost of standing 114 

Arnold, Matthew 15-36 

Artesian Wells 22 

Atkinson, Edward 10 

Austria 34 

Bacon, Lord 218 

" Bad Lands " 18 

B.uley, Professor 27 

Barrows, Dr. W. M 61 

Baxter, Dr 170 

Beard, Dr. Geo. M 71-72-73-168 

Beautiful, how far may we gratify our love for the ? 187-189 

Beecher, Henry Ward 46 

Bellarmine, Cardinal. 53 

Bismarck 33-51 

Blanc, Louis 85 

Blanch ARD, Rev. A 22 



224 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

BORUTTAU 94 

BOSCAWEN . 147 

BOWKER, K. R 190 

Brewers' Congress 79-80 

Bright, John 169 

British Colonies, increase of population in 163-164 

Burke, Edmund 153 

Burnaby. 167 

BUSHNELL, Dr 175-176-182 

Butler, Bishop 198 

Buxton. 2 

Cairnes, Professor 103-212 

California, extent of, 16 ; gold, 24 ; iron 26 

Capital, consecration of 197-199 

Carltlb 153 

Cattle " Kings " 110 

China, area and population of 9 

Church Members, proportion of in states and territories 152 

Wealth of. 201-202 

CiTT, the peril of the 128-138 

Growth of. 128-129 

Proportion of foreigners in 129 

Liquor power in 129 

Wealth and poverty in 129-132 

Socialism in 132 

Number of churches to population in 133 

Religious destitution of 133-135 

Government of. 135-136 

Clark, Dr. N. G 178 

Coal 11-26 

Colfax, Hon. Schuyler 65 

Colorado, gold and silver products of. 24 

Commerce, domestic 113-114 

Commerce follows the missionary 14 

CoMSTOCK, Anthony 84 

Cook, Joseph 67-92-95-204 

Copper 26 

cotton-gin 2 

Cotton, C. B., confessions of 81-83 

Cotton Exchange of New York 117 

Crime 41-42-44 

Criminals, increase of 141 

Crosby, Dr. Howard 84-124 

Dakota, 17 ; " Bad Lands ''of 18 

D'Alembert 83 

D'Aranda 166 

Darwin, Professor •. 170-171-176 

Debts, public, of Europe 37 

Density of population in European States and United States 167 



INDEX. 225 

PAOE- 

Dksebt 17-21 

I)E TOCQUEVILLE 29-36-99-101-138 

Diagram, sliowiBg wealth of cliurcli members and gifts to missions 202 

Showing increase of perils. — 2i6 

Dickens 173 

Divorce 141 

Dorchester, Dr. D 168 

Dike, S. W 141 

East of the Mississippi, area 17 

Arable lands 23-24 

Ely, Professor E, T 87-88-90-210 

Emerson 96-122-124-172 

Empire, westward movement of 166-167 

Fairbairn, William 3 

Fawcett, Professor 35 

Food, per caput, in United States and Europe 31 

Foreign-born population in United States in 1880, 39 ; in 1900 40 

Foreign-born population, tendency toward aggregation of 44-45 

Foreign population, proportion of, in western states and territories ... 151 

France 32-33 

Franklin, Benjamin 60-166 

Fremont, J. C 19 

Frontier population, heterogeneous character of 149-150 

Froude 178 

Fulton's steamboat 3 

Galiani 166 

George, Henry 91-92-133-135 

Germany 33 

Giffen, Eobert 156 

GiLMOUR, Bishop 52 

Giving, Christian ; the principle stated 184-185 

The principle applied , . .185-199 

The principle is not accepted by the church 199-206 

Acceptance of the principle urged 206-222 

Gladstone 8-13-36-51-9S-115 

Gold and silver product of the United States 11-24-25 

Goodwin, Dr. E. P 109-110 

Gottschalk 127 

Grazing lands of the West 21 

*' Great American Desert," 17-21 

Great Britain, land holders in 31 

Popular discontent in 35 

Local indebtedness of 35 

Increase of population in 163 

Great Columbia Plains 21 

Gregory XVI 55 

Grimm, Jacob 179 

GuizOT 93 

Hatton, Joseph 6 

Heathen, the giving of converted 203-204 



226 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Hecker, Fallier 64 

Herbert, George 195 

Herodotus 122 

HiGGiNSON, Francis 17B 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell ,. 144 

HoppiN, Prof 218 

Hughes, Tliomas 35-212 

Hugo, Victor 3G 

Huxley, Prof 169 

Idaho, extent of, 16 ; gold and silver, 24 ; sulphur 27 

Illiteracy. 140 

Illiteracy in United States 44 

Immigration, 30-46 ; causes of 30-39 

Influence of on morals, 40-43 ; political aspects of 43 

Intelligence, higher, demanded for large populations 139 

Intemperance, 68-85, of West compared with East T7 

Intoxicants, increase in use of 74 

Iron ore 11-26 

Italy 34 

Jesuits 50-58 

Kannin, Daimiyo-jin-san 191-192 

Kansas, alkaline lands of 18 

Kimball, Heber C 67 

"Kings," Cattle 110 

Lafayette 59 

Lands, exhaustion of public 153-158 

Location of public 154-155 

Lead 26 

Lecky 100 

Liberty, progress of 4 

Life, increasing valuation of human 5 

Liquor Bill of the nation 202 

Liquor Power, the, 78-85 ; wealth of 79 

Methods of 81-83 

Liquor traffic, carried on by foreigners 42-43 

Livy 121 

London, Bitter Cry of Outcast 130-132 

Louisiana, sulphur of 27 

Lourdelot 12 

Lowell, Mrs. J. S 133 

LuNT, Bishop 62 

LuxuRiousNESs, one of the perils of wealth 121-lf 3 

I\IACAULAY 101-154 

Machinery, labor-saving, to increase 38 

Influence of 95-96 

Power of, in Great Britain 115 

Superior in the United States 13 

Mammonish, 115-119; corrupts morals, 118; blocks reforms, 118; cor- 
rupts the ballot-box 118-119 

Manning, Cardinal. , , . .53-54 



"^ iXDEx. • 227 

PAGE. 

AtANUFACTUiiEiis iu United States 12-15 

Progress of 6-13 

Materlo-ism, one of the perils of wealtli 119-123 

Maurice, Rev. J. F. D 86 

McCloskev, Cardinal .1 52 

Mechanical invention, influence of, on luxuriousness 122 

Metropolitan Opera House in New York, subscriptions for 202 

Military duty in Europe 36-37 

Milton 152 

Mineral products of Tnitcd States from ISTO— 18S0, 11 ; of the West. . . 26 

Minnesota, timber lands of 23 

Missionary, commerce follows the 14 

Missions, amount given to 199 

Mississippi and affluents, navigation of 9 

Missouri, iron, 20 ; lead 26 

Money, the power of ' 181 

And the kingdom 180-222 

Montana, extent, 16 ; gold and silver, 24 ; tin 2T 

Montesquieu. 28 

Morals, popular 140-141 

MoRMONisM, 59-68 ; polygamy not an essential part of, 59-00 ; strength 

of, 01 ; dangers of, 66 ; remedy for 67-68 

MOBMONS, designs of, 62-63 ; possessions of, C4 ; increase of, by immi- 
gration, 64 ; apostacy of 64 

Most, Herr 91 

MuDGE, Prof 18 

Napoleon 180 

Nebraska, lands of 18 

Nervous belt, the 71-72 

Nevada, lands of, 20 ; gold and silver, 24-25 ; borax 2T 

New England, unimproved lands in 23 

New Glarus 44 

New Mexico 16 

New York, unimproved lands in 23 

Nihilists 34-35 

Northampton, Mass 147-148 

O-CONT^'OB, Bishop 47 

Opium, increased consumption of 73 

Oregon, iron ore of 26 

Park, Professor 21S 

I'ATENTS issued by English Government, 4 ; by United States 12 

Pen'nsylvania, unimproved lands in 23 

Peril, the supreme : . . .143-144 

Perils, increase of 216-217 

Petroleum Exchange of New York 117 

Pettenkofer, Dr. Max von 76 

Phelps, Prof 1-218 

" Physical Degeneracy of Americans '" 169-170 

Pius IX, creed of f 

Pius IX 47-48-49-^' 



228 * INDEX. ^ 

PAGE. 

Polygamy not an essential part of Mormonism 59-60 

Population, density of, in European states and United States 16T 

Possessions, God's ownership in our 184-185 

Power, distribution of ; tlie fundamental idea of popular government. 141 

Loom 2 

Pbobuce Excliange of New York 117 

Public Jands, exhaustion of. 153-158 

Location of 154-155 

Kae, Jolm 31 

Eaces, competition of 175-179 

Eailways, construction of, from 1870 to 1880 38 

Of Great Britain, passengers conveyed by 3 

KAINFALL 22 

Eawlinson 171 

Eesourcbs, national 7-15 

EOMAN Cliurcli in the United States, wealth of . . . 54 

EOMANisM, 46-59 ; fundamental principles of. 47-54 

EOMANiSM, attitude of, toward our free institutions 54-55 

Growth of in the United States 55-57 

In the West 57-59 

Eesponsible for skepticism 55 

EUSSIA 34 

EUTHBRFORD 207 

Sacrifice, the law of. 192-195 

Seelye, Pres. J. H 90-111 

Settlers, influence of early 144-153 

Seward, William H 24 

SCHAUFFLER, Eev. H. A 134 

School population 140 

Silver and gold product of the United States 11-24-25 

Slavery 4 

Smallby, E. V 18-20 

Smith, Adam 105-107 

Socialism, 85-112 ; Socialistic Labor Party 86-87 

Socialism, International Workingm en's Association 87-88 

Chicago socialists, 89; increase of, 92-107; influenced by immi- 
gration, 92 ; by individualism, 93 ; by skepticism, 93-94 ; by devel- 
opment of classes, 94-100; by discontent, 100-107; conditions of 

the West peculiarly favorable to the growth of 109-111 

SOUTHEY ; 178 

Spencer, Herbert 12-85-136-172 

Spinning mule 2 

"Staked Plain " of Texas 18 

Sumner, Charles 121-167 

Taxation in Europe and United States. 37 

Taylor, Jeremy 208 

TELEGRAPHlinesof the world .' 4 

Tennyson 168-171-179 

Texas, 16 ; capable of supporting present population of United States . . 17 



\ INDEX. 229 

PAGE. 
Texas, " Staked Plain " of, 18-19; timber lands of, 23 ; iron, 26; gypsum, 

27 ; division of, into several states 28 

Thompson, Dr. J. P 52 

Thompson, Hon. R. W 52 

Timber 21-23-24 

Tin 2T 

Tithes, misconception of the doctrine of 183-184 

Tithing 195-19T 

Tramps, taking possession of a town Ill 

United States, area of, 9 ; agricultural resources of, 9-10 ; increase of 

population in, 164 ; the seat of Anglo-Saxon power 165-168 

Utah, lands of, 19; iron 26 

Vanderbilt, wealth of 124 

Virtue, higher, demanded for large populations 139 

Wall Street Kings 103 

Warren, Kev. Dr. J. H 58 

Wealth, perils of, 112-128 ; per caput in several states, 2S ; produced 

fi-om 1850 to 1870, 115 ; meaning of, in the United States, 116 ; 

aristocracy of, in the United States, 116 ; congestion of 123-125 

West, London Times on the rapid development of, 7 ; live stock in, 24 ; 

mineral wealth of, 24 ; foreign-bom population in 45 

Western Reserve, two towns on the 145-146 

Whipple 120-168 

Whittier 149 

Wives, English sale of 5 

Womanhood, increasing honor to 5 

WooLSET, President 141 

Wright, Carroll D 212 

Wyoming, iron, 26 ; sulphate of soda. 27 

Young, Brigham 61 



American Home Missionary Society, 

BIBLE HOUSE, N. Y. 



Rev. David B. Coe, Honorary Secretary. 
Rev. Walter M. Barrows, Rev. Joseph B. Clark, Secretaries. 
Rev. Alex'r H. Clapp, Treasurer. 



Sixty years ago tlie American Home Missionary Society was organized, 
to assist congregations tliat are unable to support the Gospel ministry and 
TO send the Gospel and the means op Christian education to the 
destitute within the United States. 

It began its work near tlie commencement of that great "world-move- 
ment" described in this volume. In 1826, when Western New York was a 
frontier region, two-thirds of its missionaries were found in this State. 

Now they are laboring in nearly every State and Territory of the Union. 
Over 1,000 are in States south and west of New York. Who can estimate 
the influence they are exerting in building up the new communities on 
Christian foundations? 

Some idea of the magnitude and scope of the Society's work may be 
gained from the following facts. In 60 years its missionaries have organ- 
ized 4,816 churches, and gathered in 335,942 members. Cash receiptg, 
$11,103,712.60. 

During the 60th year 1,469 missionaries ministered to 3,005 congregations 
and 120,000 Sunday-school scholars ; organizing 152 new churches and 296 
new Sunclay-schoGls, and receiving into the churchfs 9,050 members. 
Cash receipts, $524,544.93. The statistics for the 60th year show a large 
advance in every direction. 

Never before were the calls for Home Missionary work so loud. Never 
were the doors so wide open in all parts of the land. Never were our in- 
stitutions in greater peril. Read in this book of these perils and their rem- 
edy. Then let every patriot and Christian ask if he is not responsible for 
applying this remedy. The average cost to this Society for each of its 
missionaries is $471 per year. 

Are there not many who will each contribute enough to support at least 
one such Christian worker ? 



WHAT INTELimENT READERS OF '*OUR COUNTRY'^ 
SAT OF IT. 



"Its facts, as they are piled up page after page, arrest the 
attention of all classes of readers who have aa interest in the 
welfare of their country, and the successive chapters furnish a 
cumulative argument, of great power for home mission work. 
Many pastors have sent for copies for use among their people. 
Judge Warren Currier of Missouri contributes $25 to help in 
its circulation, and the home missionary secretaries and many 
others pronounce it a wonderful book. It can be had of the 
American Home Missionary Society at the low price of twenty- 
five cents in paper, and forty cents in cloth covers, postage in- 
cluded. It should by all means be scattered far and wide over 
the country." — The Congregationalist. 



" In 'Our Country,' published by the American Home Mis- 
sionary Society, Rev. Josiah Strong has given us a book whose 
value lies m its facts and in the rare ability with which the 
author has gathered and verified them. In successive chapters 
he has sketched the spirit of the limes, the National resources 
and Western supremacy. He has depicted the perils from im- 
migration, from Romanism, Mormonism, intemperance, social- 
ism and wealth; the dangers from urban population and the 
exhausti m of the public lands. His final chapter on * Money 
and the Kingdom ' reveals the purpose of the book, which is to 
point Christians of this country to the present time as a critical 
period in Christ's Kingdom, and to urge upoa them the conse- 
cration of their wealth to the cause of the Redeemer. The 
book ought to be in the hands of every patriot in the land as a 
thesaurus of important material facts and as an incentive to 
stand on higher grounds of civic and religious duty." — The 
Advance. 



"The purpose of this volume, well accomplished, is to 
furnish facts and arguments showing the imperative need of 



the evangelization of our land. The statistics are collated with 
decided skill, and the arguments are masterly. It is a valu- 
able hand-book on the great practical problems now facing the 
Church at every turn. Romanism, Mormonism and intemper- 
ance are handled without gloves. The entire book, indeed, 
hews to the line. It bravely diagnoses the diseases of society. 
Church and State, and suggests treatment. The despotism 
and danger of excessive wealth, especially in monopoly, is for- 
cibly depicted. At the same time the trouble with the work- 
ing classes is fearlessly delineated. The closing chapter, on 
'Money and the Kingdom,' is a powerful argument for the 
cause of benevolence. This work is worthy of a wide circula- 
tion, and will be sure to accomplish goo<\.''— Herald and Pres- 



*'Mr. Strong was the successor of Rev. J. D. Davis, of 
Jfapao, at Cheyenne, and recently Home Missionary Secretary 
of Ohio. He is practically and thoroughly familiar with the 
home missionary problem in all its phases, and during the pa^t 
few years has been giving exhaustive study to the elucidation 
of questions which involve our national existence and well 
being. 

" An introduction by Dr. Phelps, of Andover, sounds a clarion 
note which the succeeding chapters swell into reverberating 
tones that both oppress and inspire with a sense of far-reach- 
ing destiny as springing from what we of to dav do or fail to 
do. 

" These chapters present an array of facts which bear the 
reader on with a trond well nigh as irresistible as are the warn- 
ings, the expostulations, the pleadings, and the inspiring pre- 
dictions of the Hebrew prophets. 

" The closing chapter speaks with the voice of aDanielcome 
to judgment. If professing Christians will recognize the pic- 
ture and move out on the lines indicated, the beginning of the 
end will be reached. We will not further particularize. Read 



3 



the book for yourself. Especially should every pastor season 
his miod and tone up his convictions by its careful study."— 
Neb. Congregational News. 

"Mr. Strong's admirable book, Our Cotintry, is by all 
odds the best home missionary document that has fallen under 
my observa^on . It is full of solid facts and sound sense, and is 
free from caut. Here are twenty-five dollars to aid in its cir 
culation. It ought to be in every Sunday-school and pastor's 
library throughout Pilgrimdom. I am ready to be one of fifty 
to pay $100 each, ($5,000) if that is the best way to get the 
book diffused throughout the land." — Hon. Warren Currier, of 
Missouri. 

"I AM glad to hear of the rapid circulation of the book. It 
cannot help doing good to anybody who has brains and heart 
enough to take it in. I have seldom read a thing that moved 
me more deeply. We are living iu a torrent of great history.'' 
—Prof. Austin Phelp<, D.D. 

* ' It is a wond^f ul book. It ought to be read by all the 
people. It is a great educator. I hope our wealthy men will 
read it, and see that they cannot put their money to better use 
than in the home missionary work. It surpasses any novel in 
interest to any one who cares for his country as a patriot, and 
for the world as a Christian." — Rev. Ste>nart Sheldon, of Dakota. 



" Our Country is truly a wonderful book. It is by far 
the most notable contribution ever yet made to home mission- 
ary literature." — Rev. John H. Bai^roics, D.D., 1st Presb. Ch., 
Chicago, III. 

"It is a splendid book. It thrills me through and through. 
I wish I could get all the business men in oiir churches to read 
it." — Rev. T. 0. Douglass, Iowa. 

"Our Country is one of tbe grandest books of this 
Nineteenth Century. I intend, God willing, to get it into 
every family in this parish." — Rev. S. R. Roseboro, Rock Creek, 0. 



" The book makes a powerful appeal, especially to suck as 
have much property laid up for many years, and can be moved 
by considerations of self-preservation for themselves and their 
children. When they have opened wide their purses through 
fear, they will he likely to keep them open for love. Is there 
no possibility of puttingthem into all city churches?" — A Gen- 
tleman in New Haven, Conn. 



"Too much cannot be said in praise of Our Country. For 
the money herewith please send me four more copies for dis- 
tribution." — A Lady in Greenfield, Mass. 



" ' Our Country,' a book recently published by the Amer- 
ican Home Missionary Society, at New York, is as full of 
sermon matter as an egg is of meat. Prof, Phelps says: * Its 
great strength lies in its facts.' These facts should be brought 
to the notice of every church id America. Pastors may diffuse 
missionary intelligence, but they must first have some informa- 
tion to diffuse." — Missionary Record. 

" It is a revelation. It is a thoroughly admirable piece of 
work in detail quality, as well as in general sweep and scope." 
— Gen. A. B. Nettleton, Minn. 



" Permit me to thank you for your valuable and instructive 
work. — It contains precisely the information people need." — 
Prof. B. T. Ely, of Johns Hopkins University. 

" In a thoughtful little bo jk, entitled ' Our Country,' late- 
ly published [by the American Home Missionary Society] 
the Rev. Josiah Strong observes that ' the tragedy of our 
civilization consists in the fact that, while knowledge has 
been multiplied and diffused, wealth has been multiplied and 
concentrated in few hands.'" — The Century, for June, 1886. 



" Would that every family of every chuich of Christ in Cal- 
ifornia were supplied with a copy of this wonderful book." — 

The Pacific. 



THE FAC-SIMILE REPRINTS. 

BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. From this 
World to that which is to come. By John Buntan. Being a 
facsimile reprint of the first edition, published in 1678. 

16mo. , paper $0 50 

Antique Binding, with Renaissance Design, Gilt Top 125 

HERBERT'S TEMPLE. Sacred Poems and Private 
Ejaculations. By Geoege Herbert, late Oratour of the Univer- 
sitie of Cambridge. Being a facsimile of one of the gift copies 
printed for circulation by Nicholas Feekak, before the publi- 
cation in 1633, of which only one copy is known to exist. 

16mo., paper $0 50 

Antique' Binding, with Eenaissance Design, Gilt Top ... 1 25 

WALTON'S COMPLETE ANGLER ; or the Contem- 
plative Man's Recreation. Being a, facsimile reprint of the first 
edition, published in 1653. 

IBmo., paper $0 50 

Antique Binding, with Renaissance Design, Gilt Top. . . . 1 25 



"They are curious and valuable souvenirs of the aiithors 
and their works. " — iV. Y. Observer. 

•' The/ac-simiZe reprints are charmingly printed, and bound 
in a fashion quaint and engaging. They are as pleasant little 
gifts for a friend as one could select." — New York Tribune. 

" The purchaser (of the Pilgrim's Progress) will see the 
famous allegory in the form in which Bunyan sent it forth to 
the World." — The Congregationalist. 

"The printing and binding are so skillfully done in imita- 
tion of the antique as to deceive even the elect." — Christian Union. 

" Two little books sure to be sought after are the facsimiles 
of George Herbert's ' Temple,' after a unique copy of the first 
(undated) impression of 1633; and of Walton's 'Complete Angler,' 
after the first edition of 1653. The quaint embossed binding 
in brown and white patterns at once distinguishes these books 
as antique. In both cases the result is very successful." — New 
Y/rk Evening Post. 

"All lovers of these sweet old lavender-smelling times will 
be grateful for the possession of such, facsimiles." — The Critic. 

Sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. 

BAKER & TAYLOR, 

9 Bond Street, New York. 



TOIDID'S 

INDEX RERUM 

By JOHN TODD. D.D. 
Revised and Improved by Rev. J. M. Hubbard. 



Quarto. Half Lea ther. - - $2.50 

The Index is intended to supply to those who are careful enough 
readers to make notes of what they may wish to use again, a book 
especially adapted to that purpose by a system of paging by letters, 
each page having a margin for the insertion of the words most express- 
ive of the subject of the note. It contains 280 pages of quarto size, 
ruled and lettered, and in the hands of an industrious reader, forms, 
in the course of years, a perfect index of his reading, as valuable as he 
may choose to make it complete. It may be fairly said to be the most 
viseful and convenient book ever devised for the purpose of makiug 
permanent the results of the Student's, Writer's, and Professional man's 
reading. Its system and arrangement are such, that with the minimum 
of effort it secures a lasting record of every reference that may be 
thought worthy of preservation in the course of the widest reading. 

Says the author : " When you read anything which you may here- 
after need, place the principal word in the margin under the first let- 
ter in the word, and the first vowel in it. I will here give some ex- 
amples as they stand in my own Index. Suppose I wish to note some- 
thing relating to America. I turn to A and the vowel e, because A 
is the first letter, and e is the first vowel, thus : — 
On page A -e, America 

'* " Atheism 



/?-<?. Rousseau, 

fV-z. VVilberforce, 
X-y. Xylochartion, 



supposed to be known in the time of Homer : Thomas's 

History Print, volume i, paf_e 20. 
of France, Picture of: Schlegel's Lecture : Volume 2, 

page 199. 
morbid imagination of: Ftewart on the mind : Volume 

I, page 277. 
character as a speaker; Port. Rhet. Reader : Page 250 
or bark paper, description of: Am. Quart. Rev. v. 2." 



OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

A. Jiave no hesitation in saying that the plan of the ' Index Rerum,' by Rev. Di 
Todd, is better adapted to the object for which it is intended, than any other with 
which I am acquainted. Its great excellence consists in its simplicity, and this ren- 
ders its advantages so obvious, that to those who want anything of the kind, an inspec- 
tion of the work must preclude the necessity of any recommendation."— Ex -President 
Mark Hopkins, Williams College, Mass. 

" It has been in use for over halt a century, and experience has shown it to be an in- 
dispensable part of every literary man's equipment. — Chicago Interior. 
" It is unquestionably the best book of the kind issued." — A Ibany Eveningjournal 
" The ' Index Rerum,' as invented and prepared by Rev. Dr. John Todd, is per- 
haps one of the best possible means of arranging the results of one's reading,^ so as to 
make them afterward readily accessible This Index Rerum, or something simi- 
lar to it, should be studied and used by one who would make his store of learning 
accessible."— A^. W. Christian Advocate. 

Sent post-paid, on receipt of price, by 

BAKER & TAYLOR, Publishers, 

© Boan.d. Street, ^STe-^:^ "STor^ 



THE 



STUDENT'S Manual. 



By JOHN TODD, D.D. 



12 mo. Cloth, - - - $1.50. 

A work of real worth for students and those who 
desire to become such in the best sense of the word. It 
is written with force and that convincing quality 
which creates an inclination on the part of the reader to 
adopt as his own that fine body of. rules and principles 
which it directly inculcates. As a formative book for 
the College period of life, it is unequalled in our litera- 
ture. It has received the universal approbation of those 
who are interested in the best education. 



'•We have no hesitation in saying that this book should be diligently read by every 
student. It is an eminently sensible and stimulating book, and its advice is such as 
students would do well to heed." — Chicago Interior. 

" The book has done an immense amount of good in its day, and is destined to 
accomplish still more in its reissued form. It is the most sensible and attractive work 
of the kind in existence." — Utica Herald. 

" In our opinion Dr. Todd has thrown together some of the best practical lessons 
for Students that we have ever seen embodied in a single work, just suited to the ex- 
perience of student? as they are in our colleges. 

" Every student has felt the need of a friend, willing and able to instruct him on 
the thousand questions which arise in relation to his course of studies, time of laboi 
and exercise, his health, diet, discipline of mind, etc. Detached hints on all these sub- 
jects may be found scattered through a library, but they have never been placed with- 
in a student's reach, nor reduced to a form to make them useful. The work before 
us, by Dr. Todd, is in this point of view invaluable." — From Philadelphia U. S. 
Ga zette. 

" This book is still, perhaps, the best uninspired guide-book to put into the trunk 
of a boy just starting for college.''^ —Sunda^-Sc/tool Times. 

" Baker & Taylor, of New York, publish a new edition of one of the best volumes 
ever written for young people attending schools and colleges, away from home — ' The 
Student's Manual,' by Dr. John Todd. — Zion's Herald. 



Mailed on receipt of price by the publishers, 

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A Work of Profound Interest to the Christian World ! 

SOCIALfSM AND 

CHRISTIANITY 

By A. J. F. BEHRENDS, D. D. 



This book treats from a new point of view the problems 
raised by the most frequently advanced social theories of the 
day ; their relations to the reciprocal duties of Labor and 
Capital, and the position of the Christian Church with reference 
to the social and industrial movements that are taking place 
about it. 

-CONTENTS :— 
I. Social Theories. II. Historical Sketch. III. The Assumptions 
of Modern Socialism. IV. The Economic Fallacies of Modern Socialism. 
V. The Rights of Labor. VI. The Responsibilities of Wealth. VII. The 
Personal and Social Causes of Pauperism. VIII. The Historical Causes of 
Pauperism and its Cure. IX. The Treatment of the Criminal Classes. 
X. Modern Socialism, Religion and the Family. 

l2mo., Cloth, - - - $1.50. 

" It is a book for the times in the interest of truth, and justice, and pure 
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" It is the first approach to a popular systematic presentation of the 
principles of the destructive socialism of the day. The questions which it 
discusses are now so prominent, and their social bearing is so vital, that 
ministers should deal with them. We commend this volume to them, 
especially to all who desire to get an intelligent view of one of the burning 
questions of the day." — Piesbytcrian Journal. 

" The book should be in every home, and we are sure that if the princi- 
ples which it advocates, and the information which it presents were givt-n to 
every family in the land, ihe present disturbances in our country would soon 
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surprised." — Prof. M. B. Riddle, D. D., Hartford Theological Seminary. 

"We need a volume that shall be broad enough to take in the whole 
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more phases of it. This Dr. Behrends gives us." 

— Illustrated Christian Weekly. 



Sent, postpaid, on receipt of price, by 

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Publishers, 



